NHT workers stage sickout

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The clerical and administrative staff at the National Housing Trust (NHT) staged a sickout on Thursday morning to register their frustration with a reported collapse in wage negotiations between unions representing the workers and the company’s administration.

Garfield Harvey, third vice president of the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU), which has been representing the workers in wage negotiations, said the workers are displeased with the management’s attitude towards wage negotiations.

“The clerical and administrative staff generally call in sick today. That’s a result of the managers, and the companies’ leaders’ attitude to the current negotiations. We have requested information from them relative to offers that they have made, which are woeful offers. They have made official offers of two per cent in year one, four per cent in year two, and another four per cent in their proposed year three. We have said that we are willing to accept 20 per cent over three years if we agree to a three-year contract,” Harvey said.