Morton Salt defended itself on Friday against claims by The Bahamas Industrial Manufac-turers and Allied Workers Union that the company was still refusing to offer retroactive pay to its employees.
Glenn Bannister, Managing Director of Morton Bahamas Ltd, wants to move ahead with a new industrial agreement for the 95 workers of the Bargaining Unit. However, BIMAWU president Wilfred Seymour would like the salt-manufacturing company to settle the back-pay issue in the old industrial agreement that expired Sept. 30. The union believes the employees are entitled to retroactive pay from June 1, 2002 to Oct.14, 2002.
With no resolution on the matter for months, Morton Salt and the union were summoned to appear before the Industrial Tribunal on Friday to consider the legality of the agreement as well as a supplemental industrial agreement.
Mr Bannister said both parties were summoned following a ruling by Acting Justice Claire Hepburn, quashing the withdrawal of the registration of the agreements by the Industrial Tribunal.
“Morton took the position that it had entered into the agreements in good faith, and has observed and fully complied with the provisions of the agreements,” said Mr Bannister.
The managing director added that since the agreements had expired, any attempt to withdraw their registration upon the grounds of illegality would amount to a hypothetical or academic exercise. He further noted that the company was of the view that all matters emanating from the old industrial agreement had been addressed and that negotiations on the new industrial agreement should not be delayed.
Industrial tensions reached a peak at Morton a month ago (Sept. 8) 98 per cent of the workers voted in favour of taking strike action against the 50-year-old company.
By: MINDELL SMALL, The Nassau Guardian
