Talks between NWC and unions end without resolution, strike status unclear

Negotiations between the National Water Commission (NWC) and the five unions representing workers at the state agency are to resume later this morning after 10 hours of talks failed to result in a resolution of their dispute. 

It's not clear whether the more than 2,000 workers will continue industrial action that started yesterday. 

More than 500,000 NWC customers have been affected, with schools being forced to close earlier.  

The Labour Ministry advised late Tuesday evening that the dispute remains "unsettled and unresolved". 

It said the parties are to continue talks today at 10 a.m., at the ministry's North Street, Kingston office. 

The workers are protesting over an outstanding reclassification exercise that stretches back to 2008, as well as the ongoing public sector compensation review.

Labour Minister Karl Samuda told Parliament yesterday that water had been restored to a "great degree" but "there were still differences" between the parties.

In a subsequent update, National Workers' Union General Secretary Granville Valentine, said the unions were at the “final stages of renegotiating a position”.

“We're making good progress and we think that within short order we should come to a positive position where we can move forward,” Valentine told The Gleaner.

But he did not say whether there would be further strike action. 

The NWC said it was caught off guard with the protest.

The ministry called the parties for emergency talks at 12:30 p.m.

The agency's president Mark Barnett has threatened that legal action could be taken to compel the workers back to work "if necessary". 

NWC is part of the country's essential service and under the law, workers in that category are forbidden from taking industrial action. 

The Opposition People's National Party has blamed the government for the strike and urged the Nigel Clarke-led Finance Ministry to ensure a speedy resolution of the matter.

"It appears that the industrial action by the NWC employees is but a symptom of this government's failure to ensure stability amongst public sector employees," the party said in a statement, pointing to other workers it claims are restive in the public sector. 

The Opposition said Dr Clarke should urgently convene a meeting of the Public Sector Monitoring Committee to address the various issues. 

"Industrial relations requires trust and agreements, and we are convinced that such trust between the Government and various stakeholders have broken down," the party said.

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