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  • 1 year ago
The decision by Caribbean Airlines to take its case to the Privy Council concerning the Aviation, Communication and Allied Workers Union representing workers is unfortunate.
That's the view taken by the Union's General Secretary. In the meantime, collective bargaining is said to be significantly delayed.
Alicia Boucher has the details from the Movement for Social Justice Tuesday Talk.
Transcript
00:00On two occasions this year, the local courts have ruled in favour of the Aviation, Communication
00:05and Allied Workers' Union, allowing it to continue its representation of workers at
00:11Caribbean Airlines.
00:12The latest ruling came from the Court of Appeal.
00:15However, CAL has decided to further appeal the decision, taking it to TNT's final Court
00:20of Appeal, the Privy Council, while General Secretary of Akowu, Rudy Atwell, is weighing
00:26in.
00:27Atwell notes that the union's Certificate of Recognition remains valid.
00:31The only person that can cancel a union's Certificate of Recognition is any judge in
00:38the industrial court or the Registrar of Trade Union.
00:41So Akowu's Certificate of Recognition is still intact and we still have our gold standard
00:46collective bargaining agreement.
00:50And the posturing that has been taking place with CAL now going to the Privy Council after
01:00the court has ruled again that it's a successor is unfortunate, but that is the reality that
01:06we are dealing with.
01:08It's a further delay to any new collective bargaining on behalf of the workers, who remain
01:13under the agreement Akowu had with BWIA before the airline transitioned to CAL around 18
01:19years ago.
01:21That agreement is binding on any successor to BWIA, which the courts have determined
01:27is CAL.
01:28Atwell states that Akowu, which is the recognized majority union, has been following the Industrial
01:33Relations Act by the book, which he believes is the constructive route.
01:38We are always ready to collective bargain.
01:42I would always champion constructive behavior.
01:48You know, the taxpayers of this country unfortunately have to pay for lawyers for this exhaustive
01:56process of going to the Privy Council after losing the appeal.
02:02And it's a burden on the treasury.
02:04The workers affected by the 18-year-long standoff include mechanics, reservations, agents and
02:09ground staff, and flight attendants.
02:13Atwell says things like the increments and the cost of living allowance have also not
02:19been dealt with.
02:20It's awful, because if you would have had workers, I would have retired and would have
02:24not gotten what is just due to them.
02:27Workers would have passed away, you know, so it's really an injustice to hold off negotiations
02:35for that length of time.
02:37Atwell says despite this, the workers remain dedicated to the company, and he adds that
02:42Akowu is not giving up.
02:44We are ready for when that moment arises to help our workers get back their collective
02:51bargaining rights that they denied to them.
02:54Akowu labels what it calls a divide and conquer narrative to diminish the power of workers
03:00as being something that can be conquered through unity, and the union is encouraging young
03:05people in the country to seek trade union membership in their numbers.
03:09Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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