IR specialists: Pandemic no excuse for anti-worker action

There needs to be honest and open communication between employees, companies, trade unions and the government now and after covid19 restrictions have been lifted if the economy is to get back on track as soon as possible.

Both Jason Brown, second vice-president of the Banking, Insurance and General Workers' Union (BIGWU) and Kashta Ome, Group Human Resources Adviser, Industrial Relations at ANSA McAL Group, agreed this was necessary during the Human Resource Management Association of TT (HRMATT) webinar, The face of IR during covid19, earlier this month.

Brown said initially covid19 brought honest and open talks between unions and employers but as the fear receded, the level and quality of collaboration decreased. He said now some employers were trying to take advantage of the situation to justify forced use of vacation, salary cuts, and permanent lay-offs.

“The trade union movement is not averse to or against any adjustment. We know that we have a pinch, we know we have to make adjustments, we know that we have to contribute to get this economy back to where it was before covid19. But what we are saying is this period should not be looked at as a period where it is capitalist objectives, in terms of maintaining and cutting costs, should be used against the work force.”

He said TT was in the midst of an unprecedented situation so no one person or entity had all the answers.

“We really need to be involved in a flexible, reasonable process where it is we consider what are the immediate concerns and priorities. And these priorities are simple and they are global, which is preservation of life and the preservation of livelihood.”

He said everyone had to bear some burden and adjust during this time so any decisions had to be arrived at through meaningful consultation. He said if the economy did not revive soon everyone would suffer and even if some people were not immediately affected, there would be social costs to the poverty they helped to create by their actions or inaction.

“It is not about any one particular person, organisation nor interest group at this point in time. It is not about being a trade unionist and it’s not about being a capitalist. It’s about being a nationalist because we all have to survive.”

Ome added that even in non-unionised environments, employers should still have discussions with employees about the way forward and not take unilateral decisions, especially when it came to terms and conditions of employment such as working from home or hours of work, in order to reduce workers’ levels of anxiety.

Brown said if an employer deviated from bargaining in good faith, one recourse was legal redress. However, he said once a company could give reasonable evidence of financial hardship to support any particular measure, engage in genuine consultation with workers and the union, and honestly consider alternate recommendations by workers, a trade dispute should not be raised.

Ome encouraged employers to avoid the filing of an IR offence because a court matter could take years which would waste a lot of time, energy and money. He added that he believed the only way for a company to win a matter in the Industrial Court was to not go to the court. He, therefore, suggested that companies “put all their cards on the table” and to provide any documents requested by the union.

He said covid19 it was an opportunity for companies to start thinking out of the box when it came to treating with situations. He added that companies should now treat with issues, not only with unions but with the government and health authorities with the goal of coming out of the situation better than going in.

Quoting a document by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Ome said companies should focus on protecting their people, communicating effectively, maintaining continuity of work, accessing workforce cost to better understand the company’s situation, and preparing for recovery.

Brown added that a document from the law firm, M Hamel-Smith & Co, said employers needed to be flexible, reasonable, and compassionate.

He said employers should not use the term “collaboration” to toe the line or disguise “sinister” or “poor” acts of transparency, integrity, and communication in order to derail the system. He suggested a national agreement to basic principles so that there was a foundation for when companies begin negotiations with unions.

He said he had seen several instances of employees’ right to representation being infringed upon where employers used the guise of “employee engagement” to sway and manipulate the minds of workers.

He said he was also disappointed with how much work unions had to do on the onset of covid19 to educate both workers and employers of their rights and responsibilities despite the OSH Act being in place for years.

Ome reiterated the point saying, “workers’ health and safety in this particular situation is most important and no company wants to come away with any particular reputation that they have been acting against the covid19 protocols that have been well communicated.”