Arbitration Award goes to the Governor General

The Arbitration Award between VINLEC and the National Workers Movement (NWM) was handed over to the Governor General on Wednesday, August 29.{{more}}

At a brief ceremony held at the Government House, Chairman of the Tribunal Arbitration Committee, Cecily Saunders, presented His Excellency Sir Frederick Ballantyne with the document.

Present were Minister of Labour Hon. Rene Baptiste, Cabinet Secretary (ag) Bernard Morgan, representative for VINLEC Burns Bonadie, representative for the NWM Jomo Thomas and Communications Consultant with the Government Elson Crick.

In delivering short remarks, Sir Frederick congratulated the Committee on dealing with the matter in such a short time and for a job well done.

He said he is sure that the public was surprised at how expeditiously the matter was handled, because there was great concern about being without an essential service.

Minister Baptiste also added her praise saying that the government is pleased that the tribunal acted quickly and came to a compromise that saved the country from a crisis.

She said that as Minister of Labour, she had concerns about the length of time the dispute at VINLEC was dragging on. She, however, felt comforted by the appointment of Cecily Saunders, a retired Director of Audit, as the Chairman of the Tribunal Arbitration Committee.

Minister Baptiste described the Chairman as having an excellent record in the public service and as versed in the areas of pension, retirement benefits and workers’ rights.