by Linda Straker
- Lewis said government exploits workers by violating Employment Act
- During 2022 election campaign, granting permanent or established status to all public sector employees was promised
- Lewis concerned about recruitment of anti-worker personnel to serve on statutory bodies
“Clouds are starting to feel heavier, with a possible threat of bad weather” — that’s how Andre Lewis, President of the Grenada Trades Union Council (GTUC), described the current industrial relations climate in the country.
In his May Day/Labour Day 2025 address during celebrations held in the parish of St Mark, Lewis said that the bad weather can be avoided if the government does not allow itself to be influenced by those anti-union, anti-worker elements that are forever bent on fighting and seeking to exploit the working class.
Lewis, who represents the labour movement in the Upper House of Parliament, said, “This government continues to exploit the workers by violating Section 29 subsection 5 of the Employment Act.”
That section states: “Where the purpose or effect of a contract that is purportedly for a specified period of time or for a specific task is the filling on a lasting basis of a post connected with the normal and permanent activity of the undertaking, establishment or service, it shall be deemed to be a contract for an unspecified period of time, but only so far as it relates to the usual mode of employment.”
“The law is clear, why are we continuing to violate the law,” he said. He reminded that during the 2022 election campaign, the now-elected government had promised to grant permanent or established status to all public sector employees.
Pointing out some trade union concerns, Lewis claimed that one concern is government’s recruitment of anti-worker personnel from the private sector to serve on statutory bodies and to lead negotiations against workers. “The private sector leaders who were fighting the private sector unions in the major companies in Grenada, together with the leading corporate law firm, are now in bed together with the government. The government brought them in, and they are questioning some of our union leaders’ certificates and right to represent workers,” Lewis disclosed.
Delegates at the celebrations in St Mark included Labour Minister Claudette Joseph and a delegation from the Cuban Embassy.