THE management of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is to meet with representatives of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and the National Workers Union (NWU) this morning, in an effort to head off a possible shutdown of the company over the implementation of new job classifications.

BITU vice-president Wesley Nelson confirmed yesterday that the management of the light and power company had agreed to meet the unions at the Breezes Hotel in Montego Bay to discuss the issue.

“We are anxious to hear something positive from the management, and the workers are eager to know whether they will abide by the Appeal Court ruling or is planning to take the issue further,” Nelson said.

The unions issued a 72-hour strike notice on Monday following what, they said, was the company’s failure to implement an outstanding reclassification, three weeks after the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) in favour of the new pay structure, retroactive to January 2001.

But the light and power company, in a statement Tuesday, expressed surprise and disappointment at the three-day strike notice, and that it is willing to continue discussions with the unions on a possible strategy for resolving the issue.

NWU negotiator Clive Dobson, in the meantime, is hopeful that the meeting today will bear fruit, as management is expected to state the process of implementation of the judgment.

“It is the company and the Ministry of Labour who contacted us and so I feel a bit encouraged by it all,” Dobson said.

Recommendations for the new structure for the workers were made in 2002, based on job evaluation and compensation reviews conducted by Trevor Hamilton and Associates and Peat Marwick and Partners, respectively.

Following the sale of the JPS to Mirant in March 2001 a memorandum of understanding to continue bargaining in good faith was agreed, but the new board, eventually, rejected the recommendations and tried to implement its own pay structure based on performance.

Both the BITU and the NWU resisted the move and threatened to strike in December 2002 over the matter, which was referred to the IDT in February 2003. The company appealed the IDT’s ruling in favour of the unions via a judicial review in 2005 and then through the Court of Appeal.