Not me, said PM Thomas

Not me, said PM Thomas

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Details: Parent Category: Dec 2011; Category: Week ending Dec 31st, 2011; Published on Monday, 02 January 2012 18:23; Hits: 844

Prime Minister, Tillman Thomas has denied allegations that he dispatched armed members of the Special Services Unit (SSU) to deal with striking workers gathered around the compound of the Grenada Breweries Limited (GBL).

In a statement released the Prime Minister said that he could not authorise, advise, nor did he attempt to influence SSU which is a part of the Royal Grenada Police Force to intervene in the current industrial impasse affecting the local brewing company and the Technical & Allied Workers Union (TAWU).

This crack military outfit allegedly manhandled striking workers who were seeking to prevent trucks loaded with drinks from leaving the compound early Wednesday morning.

The Prime Minister said his administration respects “the independence of the Royal Grenada Police Force to make decisions in the interest of upholding law and order in Grenada.”

According to the Grenadian leader, his office “could not and would not” attempt to direct the actions of the RGPF in the execution of its duties.

However, Prime Minister Thomas has expressed concern over the ongoing industrial action, especially at the Christmas season and called on all sides to use the negotiating process to solve the situation.

“We continue our efforts to work with all sides to achieve an amicable resolution to the impasse. We must ensure that ordinary Grenadians who depend on the economic activity over the Christmas season for a livelihood, are not adversely affected,” the Prime Minister said Wednesday.

He acknowledged the right of the workers to withhold their labour but suggested that the rights of all parties must be respected.

Well-placed sources told THE NEW TODAY newspaper that the Prime Minister on Wednesday night brokered a deal in which both sides agreed to bring an end to the industrial dispute.

As part of the deal, the company agreed to allow the workers to return to work and TAWU gave an undertaking that it would return to the bargaining table.

The two sides were at loggerheads on a new industrial package for the over 100 workers employed at GBL.