KINGSTON, Jamaica — Managerial and supervisory staff at the National Housing Trust (NHT) have taken industrial action to protest what they say are irregularities in the hiring and promotion of some individuals to fill key positions at the State entity.

There is no word yet as to how the operations of the Trust will be impacted today, but OBSERVER ONLINE sources say that several managers and supervisors have indicated that they will not be at their desks today as part of their protest.

According to John Levy, general secretary of the Union of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), the workers decided to take action because the leadership of the Trust has ignored their concerns.

“We have been having difficulties for quite a while now and despite a request from the union for the company not to implement the changes that they want to do, they have decided to carry on,” Levy told OBSERVER ONLINE a short while ago.

“The workers are concerned that the company has gone ahead to restructure a particular department while other departments are on hold, awaiting the outcome of a job evaluation exercise. They are handpicking people for particular roles without allowing the general staff to have an opportunity to apply for these new positions, in breach of their own policy guidelines.

“They are ignoring all the rules in terms of promotions and filling new positions and there is policy in place for this, but they have just decided that they are not following the policy this time around,” added Levy.

More to come.

Arthur Hall