AN UNUSUALLY high number of redundancies in September has fired up the trade unions. But, indications are that the job losses will continue.
"It will continue to affect us whether we like it or not," Executive Director of the Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF), Jacqueline Lloyd, said yesterday.
Both major trade unions -- the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and the National Workers Union (NWU) -- expressed concern yesterday that nearly 2,000 persons were made redundant in September, alone.
The BITU said that it was "the worst month of the year," as far as loss of jobs is concerned and warned that it could lead the country "towards the brink of a social revolution" if something is not done.
The NWU said that it is also concerned and has been contemplating proposing to employers a moratorium on redundancies to allow the economy time to heal.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Tony Irons, admitted yesterday that the current high level of redundancies and lay-offs were, probably, only comparable to the mass lay-offs in the public sector in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Mr. Irons explained that they were directly related to globalisation and attempts by local firms to improve efficiency to meet competition through the use of new technology:
"In trying to improve efficiency through technology, the human factor will suffer. The end result is that with the introduction of new technology staff will get slimmer," Mr. Irons said.
In a release yesterday, the BITU listed eight companies which have or are making workers redundant this month. (Please see graphic)
The union said that it was "shocked" at the "haemorrhaging" of employment in the Jamaican economy and that a meeting of its officers yesterday morning, had described September as, "the worst month of the year, as far as loss of jobs are concerned."
Commenting on the situation, NWU island supervisor, Vincent Morrison, said that his union was concerned, especially about the fact that most of the affected companies are regarded as "blue chip" investments.
"We're going to have to ask the employers to hold off on the redundancies and give the economy some time to grow," Mr. Morrison said.
