Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
THE NATIONAL Workers Union (NWU) has welcomed Tuesday's court ruling that Marksman Limited was found in breach of the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes (LRID) Regulations.
The court fined Marksman $500,000 and its managing director, Valerie Juggan Brown, $50,000 for breaching Regulation 3, Section 5 of the LRID Regulations.
Vincent Morrison, NWU island supervisor, described the ruling as a "landmark" and said it would now allow for the more than 20,000 security guards to be unionised.
"Based on this landmark ruling, we are going to move with alacrity to ensure that security guards enrol in the union," he said.
Mr. Morrison said it was hoped that the ruling would send a signal to all employers that all persons have a right to join the union of their choice.
Judge Georgiana Fraser, of the Half-Way Tree Resident Magistrate's Court, fined the security company and its director for failing to provide the Minister of Labour and Social Security with information necessary for the conducting of a bargaining rights poll for security guards in connection with a claim by the United Union of Jamaica.
THREE FIRMS SAID IN BREACH
Marksman Limited is one of three security companies alleged to be in breach of the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Regulations.
The other two companies, Ranger Protection and Security, and Protection and Security, will appear before the court on February 7, 2006, when their trial is expected to commence.
Meanwhile, attempts to get a response to the ruling from Juggan Brown were futile.
But according to the Ministry of Labour, Marksman Limited, through its attorney, Garth McBean, has given verbal notice of its intention to appeal the ruling.
