By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
THE Trade Union Congress filed an application in the Supreme Court yesterday to have an injunction, which prevents its members from furthering an industrial action, lifted immediately.
TUC President Obie Ferguson told The Tribune he will appear before Supreme Court Justice Ian Winder on Monday to explain why the TUC chose to strike and why they should continue.
The Supreme Court issued an injunction on behalf of the government on Wednesday ordering members of the Bahamas Nurses Union, the Bahamas Customs and Immigration Allied Workers Union and the Bahamas Educators Managerial Union to abandon their national strike and return to work “forthwith” or risk being in contempt of court.
However, Mr Ferguson said the Labour Minister Shane Gibson got the injunction without the union being able to argue its side in court.
He also confirmed that Customs and Immigration employees as well as nurses continued to strike yesterday because Mr Ferguson did not physically get the injunction until after noon on Wednesday and did not meet with his union members to explain the process until later in the evening.
“What they did was an ex parte application, meaning they went to court without us. We were not notified. We became aware when they made an announcement on the news, but I did not have it in my hands until later that afternoon. Which means my members continued to strike until I had an opportunity to meet with them.
“So we are going to meet on Monday to have the injunction set aside on the merit that the minister’s case was never heard because we were not there to put an alternative argument to the judge as to why the injunction should not be granted,” Mr Ferguson said.
“We will argue on a couple of issues. The Minister of Labour does not have the statutory power to refer a general dispute where the employer failed to treat with the union after having been recognised because the failure to treat under section 41- 3 of the Industrial Relations Act is a crime and we will say that to the court and hope to persuade them. If the minister refers that dispute to the Tribunal, the minister is incapable of referring a criminal offence to the tribunal because they do not have the jurisdiction to deal with crime.
“Once the minister referred the matter, made the decision and signed he is no longer able to deal with that matter. What he is purporting to be saying is that once the matter is referred to the Tribunal the union cannot go on strike: that is not so. So we will meet on Monday and see what happens from there.”
Workers from the Customs and Immigration Departments as well as the Nurses Union took part in a strike in New Providence, Grand Bahama and some Family Islands yesterday, organised by the TUC.
Although Director of Labour Robert Farquharson would not confirm if workers will face penalties, a well-placed source in the government told The Tribune that those employees who participated in the strike are likely to face pay cuts and the possibility of termination.
At a press conference yesterday at the Attorney General’s Office, Mr Farquharson, reading a court order from Justice Winder, said members of the respective unions were hereby restrained from “continuing to participate in any strike action” until the matter is heard by the Supreme Court.
“If they don’t do that they’ll be in breach of a court order,” Mr Farquharson said.
He said failure to do so could result in a $150 fine, three months in jail or a combination of both.
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