Dr. Peter Phillips SUPERVISORY STAFF at the Jamaica Urban Transport Company (JUTC) are said to be restive.
Danny Roberts, spokesman for the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), an affiliate of the National Workers Union (NWU), said last week that he has written to the Minister of Transport and Works, Dr. Peter Phillips, about the problem.
He said that, in the meantime, UCASE was having discussions with JUTC president, Sterling Soares, in a bid to stave off any industrial action. "The question of the workers taking very strong action can't be ruled out, but we are having discussions," he said.
Several attempts to get a response from Mr. Soares at the JUTC's head office in Spanish Town have failed.
The Gleaner understands that the situation has developed since last Tuesday's initial discussions on the Union's claim for improvements in wages and working conditions for the supervisory and clerical staff.
According to Mr. Roberts, the membership of his union has been increasing since winning a bargaining rights poll at the company in May. He accused middle managers of intimidating employees wishing to join the Union.
In his letter to Dr. Phillips, Mr. Roberts said certain members of management have engaged in "a relentless campaign to undermine the rights of those employees to continued representation."
UCASE won bargaining rights for 38 supervisors in May and had expected that the bargaining unit would swell to about 50 this year. But, according to Mr. Roberts, membership has expanded to about 200, including inspectors, dispatchers, timekeepers, telephone operators and receptionists.
A month earlier, about 1,000 bus crews and maintenance workers lost their right to union representation, when none of the three unions contesting a three-way poll - the NWU, University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) and United Union of Jamaica (UUJ) - were able to get the required 5 per cent plus one vote. Nearly half of the workers failed to vote and at least one of the unions attributed this to intimidation.
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