Sterling Products, CCWU ink agreement

Jul 19, 2016 News

– employees to get salary increases for 2016, 2017

A Memorandum of Agreement inked between Sterling Products Limited (SPL) and the
Commercial Workers’ Union (CCWU), on July 12, at the Ministry of Labour, Brickdam, Georgetown, will facilitate a hike in the wages and salaries of SPL employees.
This is according to a statement the company released recently. It disclosed that the agreement which was signed in the presence of Chief Labour Officer, Charles Ogle, will see SPL employees receiving an increase in wages and salaries of seven per cent for 2016 and 7.5 per cent for 2017.
Mr. Ogle commended SPL and CCWU for working closely to arrive at an agreement that will see workers benefiting, through the process of collective bargaining. “Regardless of the duration of time it takes, this agreement shows that collective bargaining is happening and the union is negotiating,” he said.
SPL, according to the Chief Labour Officer, has been maintaining good relations with workers and the union, noting that he cannot recall the Ministry of Social Protection having to intervene in any dispute regarding the company, over the last 10 years.
CCWU General Secretary, Ann Nelson-Anderson, said the process which the union and SPL went through to arrive at the agreement, is a demonstration of the “true definition of negotiation.”
“Like any union, we would put what we would like to see but then, we have that process of negotiating and even though we took longer than we usually do, the workers played the majority role in this negotiation, because they were the ones who made the decision on this agreement.
Again, I must applaud management for listening to their workers, listening to the union, so that we come again to this next two-year agreement which we are happy to be signing here today (July 12),” Mrs. Anderson said.
SPL Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ramsay Ali, said the company, in pursuing agreements that see employees benefiting, has always maintained a “fruitful, cordial and instructive” relationship with the union.
“One thing I think both the union and company can be proud of is the fact, that we can sit down at the table and discuss issues and get to the bottom of them and amicably resolve them.
This agreement took some time because there were a couple of issues that needed to be discussed. At least we have reached an agreement and I am proud to say that the relationship with the union and the management is quite firm,” Mr. Ali stated.
The agreement will also see several categories of workers benefiting from increased allowances, bursary awards and premiums, while paid vacation leave, employees’ health insurance, paid sick leave, education assistance, pension plan, life insurance and other benefits are maintained.

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