Last week, the National Assembly passed the First Caribbean International Bank Vesting Bill into law. That allowed for First Caribbean to transfer their assets over to Heritage Bank in a sale - at a date to be set by government.
But, while that sale is being finalized, the date that 60 employees will lose their job keeps moving closer. So, every minute counts, and today, the Labour Department arranged a 3-hour long meeting between the bank and the employees' bargaining agent, the CWU.
That meeting finished just a few minutes before news time, and we spoke with the President Audrey Matura-Shepherd and the Labour Commissioner for a few brief comments. Here's what they had to say:
Audrey Matura Shepherd, President - CWU
"We had a very productive 3 hours meeting and the Labour Commissioner served a mediator I would say. We ironed out certain details and the good news is that now are preparing to actually start negotiations. We won't go into discussion on details what our difference is, but rather that we actually plotted a way forward and that we are looking forward to genuine good faith negotiations. Especially since our employees are still adamant about knowing where they stand."
Ivan Williams - Labour Commissioner
"It was a very fruitful meeting from our point of view. It was very amicable and we were able to understand the parties their issues and we were able to get them to agree on the common issues and a way forward. We are hoping now that the parties will meet on those dates and hopefully that they can work out a package and an arrangement with respect to the exit, in terms of if and when the sale takes place."
We'll have more this and other issues that Matura-Shepherd chose to comment on in further detail tomorrow.
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