Jan 28 - Local Trade Unions Reject Chamber Proposals
Following the publication by the Chamber of Commerce of a document entitled ‘Agenda for Change’ where legislative reforms in employment law have been proposed to the Government of Gibraltar, Unite the Union, The Gibraltar General and Clerical Association, and the Gibraltar Teacher’s Association have come together to voice their initial reaction.
All three unions say that they roundly reject any measures which will, among other things, limit worker’s rights to statutory redundancy payments, to sick pay and to access to the Industrial Tribunal. Although the unions say they are willing to discuss a modernisation to the current Industrial Tribunal setup in terms of the way it functions and especially the time that it takes to resolve employment disputes, they insist that charging employees for access to an Industrial Tribunal “shows an utterly conflicting approach to tackling the same issue.”
A statement from the unions continued:
“The Chamber of Commerce appear to argue that such changes to the law will increase employees’ contribution and lead to higher levels of productivity. We, the local trade unions, cannot accept that diminishing the rights of the worker will increase productivity and will encourage businesses to prosper in Gibraltar.
“Indeed, we believe that in the UK, where British workers have suffered reforms detrimental to their rights, productivity has dropped and remains at an all time low. Whilst the Chamber of Commerce states that local employment law should mirror that in UK, it must be pointed out that the changes to employment law in the UK reflect a right wing approach to a declining economy. The implementation of such measures here in Gibraltar will be vigorously opposed by all three trade unions, and though disadvantageous to our community irrespective of our economic climate, totally unthinkable given our current prosperity and economic well-being.”
