KINGSTON, Jamaica – Normality is returning to National Housing Trust (NHT) offices islandwide this morning, following industrial action yesterday over non-payment of an allowance.

Spokesman for the NHT Staff Association (NHTSA), Garfield Harvey, said yesterday that the association represents more than 800 of the Trust’s 1000-plus employees, who either did not turn up for work or, if they did, refused to work in protest against the failure of the management to resolve the issue of non-payment of an on-call allowance.

The management reported the matter to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and, following a conciliatory meeting at the ministry yesterday, the ministry issued a release which stated that the Trust would resume normal operations today at 7:30 am.

“The management has refused to pay the allowance, even though workers are regularly required to be on call. This duty is required for technical maintenance, unscheduled emergency work and other work done outside of normal working hours,” Harvey explained yesterday.

He said that the on-call allowance, while budgeted for annually, has never been paid to any of the workers. The NHTSA has asked for an account to be given regarding the monies budgeted for, but not paid to the workers.

The ministry says that it will resume conciliatory talks with the parties at its North Street office in downtown Kingston, on Thursday.

Balford Henry