Notice Of ‘Industrial Action’, Not ‘Strike’
Over the weekend Bernews carried a video of Transport Minister Terry Lister saying his Ministry received a 21 day strike notice, however Union boss Glenn Simmons told The Royal Gazette “There’s no strike notice.”
We have been made to understand that the letter issued by the BIU to the Minister says “industrial action” not “strike”.
Industrial action, as defined by the UK Government: “Workers usually take industrial action by refusing to work altogether or refusing to do work in the way their employment contract says they should.”
Last week Transport Minister Terry Lister said that his Ministry received a 21 day strike notice, along with a two-page letter from the BIU detailing seven or more matters of interest to the Union.
“We received a letter last week Thursday outlining seven, I believe it was seven or more matters of interest for the Union.” said the Minister. “The vast majority are rather minor things that can be resolved in one meeting. And so I am surprised they would even make it the table so to speak.”
“But what I believed happened was a decision to cull together every little problem that could be found, put in a letter and make sure it fills 2 full pages, and at the bottom of the letter says and you have a 21 day strike notice. And thats exactly what we ended up with.”
The issues with the buses has been ongoing, with recent weeks seeing a list of bus cancellations released daily, pay negotiations and more. On June 2nd, after a meeting with almost 500 members, BIU President Chris Furbert said they were willing to accept an increase of approximately 1.55% [around $16 a week for most workers], as well as agreed to work overtime for straight time pay, with the understanding they would not have to pay payroll tax on the additional hours worked.
At the end of the day “strike” or “industrial action” are just thinly veiled threats for work stoppages and more pissing about as the rest of the “working public” get angry at the unions.
In case someone from the union hasn’t noticed yet, having a decent paying job at all in this economy is a luxury.
Enjoy your summer vacation!
This entire bus PTB/DPT debackle is really making me tired.
Me too. Enough already.
If it is not a strike, I’d really like to know what industrial action they are talking about. The word ‘action’ might indicate movement of some kind. Perhaps the sickies are going to show up for work.
(In the real world perhaps).
Reading their definition, it looks like ‘industrial action’ and ‘strike’ are synonomous. Either way, this is going to cause problems for the general public and I agree with Genghis Khan, this is getting tiring. These fools should be glad that someone with a backbone doesn’t run this country, because they would all be out of a job and quickly replaced
You say tomatoes I say tomatoes! What do you know, they are spelled the same way too, so ……….
6 inches or half a foot? Potato or potatoe? A thief or a crook? Strike or industrial action? Whats the difference?
My kids vote for the Strike/Industrial action… They want a few more days of summer vacation, because they need the bus to get to school.
Can I work overtime without paying payroll tax please???
The Transport Ministry & PTB Bosses need to get a backbone.
Not necessarily PTB Bosses. Remember, they fired the worker who called in sick only to work elsewhere in the department. The Minister intervened and reinstated him. Perhaps the politicians need to stay out of the day-to-day operations of the DPT and allow the administration to do their jobs.
“The Minister intervened and reinstated him “- The Deputy Premier, second to the Premier intervened and reinstated him.
Just had to correct that sentence.
This country is a big joke. This ‘goverment’ is a big joke. Truly pathetic place we live. Not a backbone to be found in the ‘goverment.’ Sad, truly sad the state we have allowed ourselves to get into.
It is more like a situation that the electorate have voted THEMSELVES into. For decades the BIU/PLP have been limbs of the same tree.
Should anyone be surprised?
To quote Tony Brannon “Whatcha gonna do Bermuda?”