KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and the National Workers Union (NWU) have written a joint letter to the government, seeking its intervention into the issues of working conditions and remuneration of workers on major hotel sites.

The unions, in the letter addressed to the Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Dr Horace Chang, who has responsibility for Works, urged the government to:“Rein in those expatriate contractors who continue to ignore local agreements on wages on wages and working conditions in the building and construction sector, and who continue to defy the labour relations laws by dismissing workers who seek union representation to defend their rights”.

The unions’ letter added: “Mr Minister many of these contractors, some of whom also claim to be investors, have shown wanton disregard for Jamaican workers and Jamaican labour laws.

“We are informed by workers on the site that several of them have been dismissed for either: demanding pay slips with their wages; or, signing up to become members of the unions.

“Minister, these employers refuse to honour the working conditions and remuneration agreed by the members of the Joint Industrial Council (JIC) for the Building and Construction Industry”.

The letter also urged the minister to look into the issues “before the situation develops into a confrontation between workers/trade unions and management/contractors on these sites”.

The letter was signed by Alden Brown, vice-president of the BITU, and Owen Saunderson, Deputy island Supervisor of the NWU.

Copies were also sent to: Office of the Contractor General (OCG); the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS); and the Incorporated Masterbuilders of Jamaica (IMJ).

Balford Henry