Dear Editor,

We at the Union of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) and the entire trade union movement, are indeed saddened by the passing of Tony Irons.

Mas Tony, as he was affectionately called, was a magnificent industrial relations specialist, a superb and outstanding negotiator, an excellent public servant, a wonderful human being, and a quintessential Jamaican.

He has served Jamaica diligently and well as a conciliator and as a public servant.

Irons’ legacy will always remain as a man who always stood for the truth, fairness and justice, one who believes that peace could only come between labour and capital when the labour laws are fair, balanced and justified.

The alliance between Tony Irons as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Portia Simpson Miller, during her time as labour minister, must be recorded in the annals of the public service and our labour and industrial relations history. The level of cooperation and work he performed during the tenure of Simpson Miller as minister of labour, social security and sports brought respect and stability to both the US and Canadian farm work programmes. This was indeed paramount after the JAG Smith and Probyn Aiken controversy and must never be taken for granted. Tony and Simpson Miller, along with the support of the boards that ran the programmes, did a Herculean job in preserving these programmes for the economic and social benefit of thousands of Jamaican and Caribbean workers.

Under his chairmanship of the board of the National Insurance Fund, significant growth of the fund took place.

A keen lover of sports and a great cricket enthusiast, Irons would recount the heroics of not only Donald Bradman, but George Headley, Gary Sobers and Rohan Kanhai to name a few cricketing greats.

His passing has certainly left a wide gap in the industrial relations, conciliation and arbitration field, having served as deputy chairman of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal for many years.

To his family and friends, we at UCASE, having worked and having learned from him, we wish to extend our profound sympathy on the passing of this blessed and outstanding Jamaican.

Vincent Morrison

President

UCASE

Kingston 10

ucase2014@flowja.com