Chairman of the Labour Arbitration Tribunal Mr Paul B. Dennis QC at left and Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources and Labour Dr the Honourable Kedrick D. Pickering (R7). Photo: VINO

Reporters who were present at the press conference yesterday November 11, 2014 were told that there are only three cases ready for LAT but several others being looked at. Photo: VINO

Among those who were present to witness the introduction LAT were Janice I. F. Rymer, Labour Commissioner and Mr Ronald Smith-Berkeley Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour. Photo: VINO

This was announced yesterday November 11, 2014 as LAT was officially launched at a simple and brief press conference which marked an historic moment for the Virgin Islands. The Labour Arbitration Tribunal has been long in the pipeline but has now come to reality with Mr Paul B. Dennis QC taking up the post as chairman for the initial period of two years.

Addressing reporters at yesterday’s event Hon Pickering said that while there are only three cases ready several other are in the pipeline being looked at.

It was also made abundantly clear at the meeting that Hon Pickering is the only one who has the authority to forward matters to the LAT and that the system is not a free for all.

“The general public cannot go to Tribunal, that is extremely important for the public to understand. There are two inspectors at Labour who do the first and formal investigation of a complaint. If they think there is a dispute it is referred to Labour Commissioner for resolution considering all the factors involved, if the Commissioner cannot resolve then it is referred to the minister” said Hon Pickering.

This was further re-enforced by the first time LAT Chairman Mr Paul B. Dennis QC when he said, “So the Tribunal will only deal with cases on the basis of referrals from the minister and that needs to be kept in mind, and clearly understood so that the public does not labour under the perception that the Tribunal is to hear initial complaints."

At the time of addressing reporters Mr Dennis had no knowledge as to the extent or nature of the three pending cases and was quite sure that there will be many matters that will reach LAT judging from the type of cases he has seen hitting the courts.

“In a general sense based on what I have been told I can perhaps confidentially say there are probably a significantly number of cases because they have been matters awaiting adjudication for some time," said Mr Dennis.

He further said, “...and what I envisage that will probably constitute perhaps the most significant bulk of referrals would be cases having to do with dismissals which an employee perceives to be either wrongful or unfair and so although there may be other categories of disputes I envisaged based partly on my own experience with the kinds of employment and labour related cases which we see coming before the courts are almost always those disputes have to do with issues of whether an employee has been lawfully dismissed.”

Having the LAT final up and ready to run, Hon Pickering said that it is a time that can be best described as a ‘Red Letter’ day for the Virgin Islands’ labour sector.

He said that there were many vexing problems raised during a series of Town Hall meetings which require urgent attention. These problems range from the inadequacy of the current minimum wage to unfair treatment of some employees by some employers. There were also issues raised from the employers’ perspective as well, such as the inappropriate use of sick days by employees; poor job performance, and behavioural issues.