Local attorney to take up Chairman of Labour Dispute Tribunal position
This was an announcement made by Deputy Premier and Minister for Labour and Natural Resources Dr the Honourable Kedrick D. Pickering as he spoke with much relief of the National Democratic Party (NDP) government finally being able to adhere to the law of having the Labour Dispute Tribunal for which they have been coming under harsh criticisms for its absence.
He said it has been a very daunting task to find someone to fill the position of the Chairman of Labour Dispute Tribunal. "The law specifically says that it has to be a senior Attorney-At-Law who is at least of ten years experience. It is specific in the law."
The position is not a paid one and warrants voluntary services while some payments would be given in the form of a stipend. "It is not paid it is not full time employment," emphasised the Hon. Labour Minister.
At the time the Hon. Pickering was speaking at the Labour Department’s Dedication and Re-launch of the Employment Services Unit. "The [Labour] Code applies to new minimum standards, it defines employees' discrimination and calls for the creation of a tribunal for settling disputes." said Hon Pickering, when he deviated from his set speech to make the announcement.
He, however, did not announce the name of the person who has committed to the position nor did he name the person that will be coming from Trinidad. Noting that he does not give interviews after making speeches the Hon. Minister referred this news site to the Ministry’s Information Officer for assistance in getting this information. The Information Officer promised to furnish us with this information “as soon as possible” at which time we will publish.
The Labour department was closed to the public for the earlier half of today to facilitate the re-launch activities. Among those making remarks were Ms Marilyn Nibbs of Harneys who spoke of her benefits from the Employment Service Unit and Executive Chairman of Road Town Wholesale Trading Ltd., Ms Delma Maduro who spoke as an employer whose company benefited from the department. There were also brief remarks from a pool of contractors.
According to Acting Labour Commissioner Mrs Janice I. F. Rymer, the renovation of the facility will aid the process of better serving persons who are unemployed. She noted that the facility was reorganised based on job functions, which include the cashier area, customer services, photography identification, work permit, employment services and training room.
"We even have a separate area at the entrance of the Employment Services Unit so that there will be no delays when persons come to seek employment. We plan to have a data base where persons can come, search to see what's available, and then see a placement officer regarding their need," said Mrs Rymer.
Provisions are also being made for applicants to be assisted with resume writing, skills assessment, interview preparation and relevant training, follow-up and support as per individual needs.
"The training room will also be used to do training programmes to prepare job seekers with the skills they may need to be successful on their jobs," said Mrs Rymer. Additionally, in collaboration with the Immigration Department, orientation programmes would be delivered for new employees and new employers. Mrs Rymer said employers of from the sister islands have been constantly asking the Labour Department to put space where they can interview individuals on Tortola to facilitate the process of short listing on Tortola before inviting them over to the sister islands so as to save time and money.
"So there are a lot on the horizon for the Labour Unit ladies and gentlemen. We want to be as our slogan says, we want to be your one stop partnership link connecting the employer to the employee," remarked Mrs Rymer.
Following the handing over of the keys, the Deputy Premier cut the ribbon declaring the office officially re-opened and paved the way for the tour of the facility by Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, Deputy Governor Mrs V. Inez Archibald, Attorney General, Dr. Christopher Malcolm and other invited guests.
The Labour Department has a staff compliment of 25 officers including those from Virgin Gorda. In 2012, the Employment Services Unit registered 308 applicants.
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30 Responses to “Local attorney to take up Chairman of Labour Dispute Tribunal position”
The trust the public had in them after they go in is gone in the win…as they do not care about the people only kick backs for friends and reward to political cronies…they are not doing the “people’s bidding" and what they know is right and are trained to do.
Mrs R don't know wa she doing Hon Pickering don't have no choice than to send for somebody all the way from T T shame oy mrs Maynard is the right person for the department but its ndp time so they have the say ayo send for ppl from PR&TT where else left so when ayo done send for foreigners plus the ones ayo done put over we all we have to pack up an leave can't wait for the next election ndp will never get back in!!!!!!!They reaping what VIP sow an acting like they came up with the plans over night who ayo think ayo fooling well sah we want our country we have no where to go send your own ppl to go do the school /college for the work you all putting foreigners in wake virgin island ndp selling out oy we smh
The Minister of Labour is a cr...k all this grand standing for nothing. He need to start telling the people the truth.