The Grenada Technical and Allied Workers Union (GTAWU) and the Public Workers Union (PWU), which are currently engaged in a wage dispute with government, are seeking to delay the conciliation talks proposed by the Labour Commissioner.
Having failed to show up for both the pre-conciliation meeting and the actual conciliation talks last Thursday and Friday, the Labour Commissioner extended a second invitation for meetings on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
However, in separate letters to the Labour Commissioner over the weekend, both unions stated their unavailability for meetings this week.
In its letter, GTAWU indicated that “the officers involved in the negotiations have pre-arranged commitments between 21 and 24 October 2019 some involving overseas participants that cannot be rescheduled at this time.”
Stating that it is therefore prudent to reschedule the proposed meetings to a later date, GTAWU has suggested that its office be contacted for scheduling arrangements.
In its letter to the Labour Commissioner, the PWU said it is only prudent that they request the same consideration as the unions are negotiating jointly.
The Labour Commissioner’s attempt at conciliation is in keeping with the provisions of the Labour Code and collective labour agreements between the disputing parties, following the deadlock declared by the Government’s Negotiating Team (GNT) on 8 October.
GTAWU represents a handful of public workers and the PWU represents well over 1,500 public officers.
The GNT says both unions are aware that there is a deadline by which expenses must be submitted for inclusion in the 2020 budget.
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