CMC Staff Votes for New Union Representation

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Friday, 29 June 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - Line staff workers of the Central Marketing Corporation (CMC) have voted for a new bargaining agent following a recent petition to the Labour Department.

Eighteen of the 24 eligible line staff gathered at a meeting on Tuesday that included representatives of the former bargaining agent the Antigua Trades & Labour Union (AT&LU) and the replacement Antigua & Barbuda Free Trade Union (ABFTU).

Sources at that meeting revealed that 17 out of 18 employees in attendance voted to replace the AT&LU with the representation of the ABFTU.

Some time ago a petition requesting a change of representation was made to the Labour Department due to the employees’ dissatisfaction with the representation of the ATLU.

Those in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting included Pascal Kentish – Labour Department representative and meeting chairman; Altiago Santiago – Labour Officer; Stafford Joseph – ABFTU General Secretary; Dave Joseph – ABFTU Industrial Officer; Alrick Daniel – AT&LU General Secretary; and Avlyn Watley – AT&LU Representative.

Kentish advised those present of the legal implications of the request before a vote was taken.

Sources advised Caribarena that the AT&LU got 1 vote and the ABFTU got 17 votes. As a result the ABFTU was declared the sole bargaining agent for the line staff.

“The workers are happy,” said the ABFTU’s Stafford Joseph.

According to Joseph the petition by the workers did not need to outline why a change in representation is required. But the petition tabled had been made public and went unchallenged. He said the workers were dissatisfied with the representation they had received from the ATLU. The ATLU, he noted, has not had a renewed contract for the CMC employees since 2006.

Joseph said he believes workers should be able to freely choose what union they want to represent them, but two legal challenges from the Antigua & Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU) have led to at least two separate groups of employees who requested a change being left without any form of representation.

“The workers expressed their interest under the law and the union has challenged that. I feel it hard that a union is denying workers’ (desire) to change,” Joseph said.

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