The Opposition People's National Party is extremely concerned and disappointed at the manner in which the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) is proceeding with what it describes as a "redundancy exercise".

Opposition Spokesman on Transport, Robert Pickersgill said "The JUTC is demonstrating a blatant disregard for the welfare of its employees and is breaching the MOU and the Labour Relations Code. The short notice given to the workers is cruel and inhumane and will lead to understandable anger and upset."

The Opposition is also questioning the real motivation for the redundancy exercise, given that the JUTC advertised in the press for vacancies in a number of areas, including those of conductors who are now being made redundant. Mr. Pickersgill said "This reflects an insensitivity and callousness on the part of the JUTC"

The Opposition notes that the majority of those being made redundant are women, who are single heads of households. This will lead to further hardships as there is uncertainty about when they will receive their redundancy payments.

While expressing sympathy with the traveling public which was inconvenienced by the industrial action today, the Opposition is laying the blame for this action squarely at the feet of the government and the management of the JUTC and in particular, its chairman, Douglas Chambers.

Mr. Pickersgill said "The abrasive management style of the chairman has led to a breakdown in the industrial relations climate at the company. The Party has received numerous reports of the disrespectful attitude of Mr. Chambers, who regularly uses expletives when communicating with employees of the organization"

The Opposition is also concerned that the JUTC has not paid deductions taken from the salaries of employees to third party companies, such as the NHT and Blue Cross.  This may lead to employees losing their homes and not being able to access health care benefits.

The Opposition is reminding the government that it had promised to provide "jobs, jobs, jobs" for the Jamaican people but so far has only delivered "lay offs, lay offs and more lay offs."

Contact:
Robert Pickersgill
Opposition Spokesman on Transport
(876) 978-1337
Email: