PRODUCTION at leading paint manufacturer Berger Paints Jamaica has been halted since yesterday, when unionised workers walked off the job in protest against the removal of a chief union delegate Evadine Murray.

The Jamaica Observer understands that clerical staff, represented by the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), stopped working yesterday morning after learning that Murray’s position in the company had been made redundant following a merger of the posts.

Murray was the chief union delegate for UCASE at the factory.

Production workers, who are represented by the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), have since refused to cross their picket line. This has halted production at the company’s plant at 256 Spanish Town Road, Kingston.

UCASE’s representatives met with the company’s human resources manager, Angella Scott Brown, yesterday in a bid to resolve the issue. However, those talks failed, and the parties are to meet at 2:30 this afternoon at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to continue their discussions.

According to the president of UCASE, Vincent Morrison, the workers are convinced that Murray’s separation was entirely due to the fact that she is the union’s chief delegate. However, the company is contending that the redundancy is part of an exercise to streamline operations.

The Observer understands that about 85 workers, including 35 represented by UCASE, are involved in the strike.

Berger, which commenced manufacturing in the Caribbean in 1953, is the largest paint manufacturing company in the English-speaking Caribbean. Berger Caribbean has factories in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, producing paints for homeowners, hoteliers and businesses across the region.