by Linda Straker
- OECS 3rd Council of Ministers meeting taking place at Radisson Hotel
- Striking Grenlec workers protesting outside meeting venue
- Workers took industrial action on Monday, 3 March
Striking workers of the Grenada Electricity Services (Grenlec) took their protest action to the gates of the venue where the OECS 3rd Council of Ministers: Immigration meeting is taking place as part of the union’s efforts to draw the attention directly to Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell — Grenada’s immigration minister.
“We are calling on the Prime Minister directly, to resolve this matter,” Andre Lewis, President of the Grenada Technical and Allied Workers Union (GTAWU) said in an interview at the entrance of the convention centre of the Radisson Hotel, the venue for the meeting.
The workers took industrial action on Monday, 3 March in solidarity with 2 workers who were served termination letters, and new workers were hired to fill the positions. The issue started in 2024, but the union objected to the treatment of the workers, claiming that it was a violation of the workers’ rights. The union agreement stated that anyone hired for more than 6 months as a temporary worker will automatically become permanent.
Lewis said that, based on this clause, the matter was taken to the Minister for Labour, who ruled that the workers who were employed as temporary workers for years must be hired. Instead, the management of the state-owned enterprise has now offered them a financial termination package and hired 4 people to do the work of the 2.
The matter went back to the Minister for Labour for discussion after industrial action began on Monday, and on Tuesday, it was felt by the union that a resolution was in the making. Lewis told the media that the union requests that the new people hired be delayed while the talks are taking place as part of the resolution.
The management of the company is objecting to this request.
“The only how they will do that is that the union must sign an agreement that there will be no further industrial action for the rest of 2025. This, therefore, means that anything happens going forward, there can be no industrial action,” said Lewis, who is the labour movement representative in the Upper House of Parliament.
The company had described the industrial action as illegal. “This illegal strike is not in keeping with the collective bargaining agreement between Grenlec and GTAWU,” said a release from Grenlec, whose majority shareholder is the Government of Grenada.
