WAWU Secretary-Treasurer Kertiste Augustus dissatisfied with the operations at the Ministry of Labour

Waterfront and Allied Workers’ Union (WAWU) Secretary-Treasurer Kertiste Augustus is expressing dissatisfaction with the operations of the Labour Ministry. He told Union Members on May Day, the Ministry is inactive in arranging tribunals, & is ineffective in making appointments.
 
He stated “Reference is made here to the inaction of the Labour Ministry, in terms of speedily setting up tribunals to hear & deal with disputes declared by the Trade Union movement, the non-appointment of the Deputy Labour Commissioner, and, by extension, the non-appointment of Labour officers, to deal with the apparent heavy workload of that Ministry,” he stated.
 
Augustus claims he is also concerned about the decision of the “Dominica Employers’ Federation, in withdrawing one of its representatives on the tribunal panel, and thereby causing a backlog of disputes reported to the Ministry for resolution”. He pointed out that Dominica’s Labour Laws have been neither reviewed nor revised within the past 39 years.
 
He also referred to the recent closure of Dominica Coconut Products (DCP), stating that employees were paid less than the required statutory redundancy entitlement. “The posture of the management of the DCP, in the settlement package, should strengthen the Waterfront & Allied Workers’ Union submission, that our administration should revisit the provisions of the redundancy formula, to delete the ceiling provided in the legislation,” he noted.
 
Meanwhile, it has been reported that “The Coconut Products management went beyond the provisions of the law, which requires payment of the bare minimum.”
Colgate-Palmolive, the company which owns Dominica Coconut Products (DCP), announced on November 19, 2015, that it would be shutting down its operation in Dominica.  Ninety-four people lost their jobs. On May Day, WAWU provided financial assistance to six members affected by the passage of Tropical Storm Erika.