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Friday, April 14 is one of many significant days on our national calendar. It is the anniversary of the 1816 Bussa Rebellion and is also now the start of the annual Season of Emancipation.The slave rebellion here was the first of three slave uprisings that took place in the West Indies. Enslaved men and women who worked on several estates and plantations believed that Barbados belonged to them and wanted their freedom from the plantation owners. After much bloodshed, their freedom was granted.Many may argue there are certain rights, freedoms and privileges that are still being fought for today, 207 years later.While we are now a population made up of a Black majority, the issue of race may have taken a back seat to other challenges.One major fight that continues is the labour fight, once between worker and owner now between employee and employer.Just this week, General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Richard Green lamented that the Employment Rights Tribunal (E
General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Richard Green believes the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) has not been given the resources it needs to efficiently carry out its work.Insisting that the tribunal must not be treated as a “step-child” in resolving labour issues, he also expressed serious concern with the lengthy delays in having cases brought before the ERT.“How seriously the ERT is taken is reflected in the resources that have been given to it. I do not think it has been given the status that it truly deserves and that more manpower resources and more technical resources should be given to the tribunal,” the trade union leader told Barbados TODAY.“The length of time it is taking to have matters resolved before the ERT can act as a deterrent to employees taking their matters before the tribunal for resolution,” he added, noting that the backlog of cases was also frustrating those waiting for their matters to be called.
By Emmanuel Joseph
The chairman of the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) has quit the position citing his inability to dedicate the time required to both the work of the ERT and that of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC), which he also heads.
Retired Court of Appeal Justice Christopher Blackman handed in his letter of resignation to Minister of Labour Colin Jordan on