A DECISION on when nearly 300 employees of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) are to receive marching orders is likely to be taken today.
The company had initially planned to lay off the workers in mid-January, but delayed the action to accommodate demands from the unions for discussions on the matter. The Gleaner understands that the company is now determined to finalise the process this week and is expected to inform the unions of its final decision at a meeting this afternoon. The workers are represented by the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) and the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE).
The delay has been primarily due to differences between the management and the unions over whether the workers should be laid off, as planned by the company, or be made redundant, as requested by the unions.
REDUNDANCIES PREFERRED TO LAY-OFFS
The unions are concerned that if the workers are laid off they will not be paid any money at the time of departure. But the company, apparently restrained by its cash flow problems, is sticking out for lay-offs.
Under the law, if the workers are laid off, they will receive no money from the company. There is no pension scheme at the company and they are not entitled to notice pay without redundancy. Their only course would be to wait out 120 days, after which they can apply to the company for redundancy payment.
According to UAWU second vice-president, Clifton Grant, "If it's job cuts, redundancy must be a part of it."
The management of the JUTC has not responded to a number of requests from The Gleaner for reactions to the developments in the issue over the past week.
The law, however, gives the management the right to lay off the workers for 120 days without the unions' agreement, after which the workers can apply for redundancy.
280 WORKERS FACE AXE
Some 280 workers are expected to be affected, including 215 from the UAWU unit of mainly bus crews and maintenance workers, and 64 from UCASE's unit of mainly supervisors and dispatchers. Another group, including clerks and middle managers are expected to follow next month.
The company issued the lists of workers to be laid off to both unions in mid-January, but the unions requested time to discuss criteria for making up the lists, as well as the possibility of redundancy. The criteria called for considerations of length of service, performance, persons near retirement age and those with medical problems. The lists were compiled based on recommendations from depot managers, who were accused by some workers of using subjective measures to appraise their performance.
The state-owned bus company was declared technically insolvent in a review done by KPMG Peat Marwick, the management consulting firm, in July 2002.
