SIXTY-FOUR workers employed to Caribbean Construction Company Ltd (CCC), which is sub-contracted to work on an expansion programme being implemented by the bauxite company, Jamalco in Clarendon, were yesterday laid off by the company.

But workers claimed that the job cuts were attempts to thwart their move to unionise.

“We have been in discussions about representation with the National Workers Union. On Thursday we voted that we wanted them to represent us in a poll conducted by the Ministry of Labour. Today CCC come and lay us off,” said one disgruntled worker, who requested anonymity.

He said that CCC had called a meeting with the 64 yesterday to tell them that CCC would no longer be involved in the bauxite company’s expansion project.

“They said that on Monday they will try to arrange with the new sub-contractor to re-employ some of us but there is no guarantee that that will happen,” said the worker.

“It is a clear case of union busting and we are going to treat it as such,” said NWU’s islandwide supervisor, Vincent Morrison. “We are going to use all our power to see that those workers jobs are protected,” he told the Observer.

Morrison said he was among a group of six people who were denied access to Jamalco on Thursday when the representational polls were done. The group consisting of two representatives from the Ministry of Labour and four from the NWU who had gone to conduct their poll with the 64 employees outside of Jamalco’s gates.

But according to the labour ministry’s public relations representative, Julie Dundas, the situation had been due to miscommunication.

“The ministry had written to the Caribbean Construction Company Ltd in Jamaica to inform them that the poll was to be done. The ministry had the understanding that the construction company would inform Jamalco because of the contractual arrangements between the two,” said Dundas. “It seemed that this was not done and that is why entry was refused.”

She said that in a letter on January 7, CCC had confirmed their willingness to have the poll done.

“But then on Wednesday they called us to say that their managing director was not in the island and would not be until March,” said Dundas. “They wanted us to wait until March or April to do it but the Ministry decided to go ahead with the original date.”

The Observer tried to reach David Bowers, the manager overseeing the expansion project, but was told to direct questions to Jamalco as he was unavailable.

However, Jamalco’s managing director, Jerome Maxwell, said that he was not fully briefed on the situation but would ask for an investigation to be done. A press release, he said, would be sent out on the issue then.

But for Morrison, his union would be setting a plan of action with the workers.

“On Thursday, 60 of the 64 workers voted that they wanted us to represent them. Now that this has happened, we are going to meet with them on Saturday morning (today) to discuss how we will take it from there,” said Morrison.