Private Power Operators Ltd (Appellant) v Industrial Disputes Tribunal and 2 others (Respondents) (Jamaica)
Case ID: JCPC 2023/0019
Jurisdiction: Court of Appeal of Jamaica
Case summary
Issue
- Was the Court of Appeal wrong to make its decision on grounds that were not set out in the Notice of Appeal, without giving the appellant ("PPO") sufficient opportunity to address the court?
- Given that the Court of Appeal found the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (the "IDT") had made errors of law, was the Court of Appeal wrong not to quash the IDT's award and/or remit the case for reconsideration?
- Was the Court of Appeal's interpretation of section 11(ii) and (iii) of the Labour Relations Code (the "Code") incorrect?
Facts
The second and third respondents (the "Unions") hold bargaining rights for and on behalf of former employees of PPO.
PPO and the Unions engaged in a limited round of correspondence and meetings regarding "restructuring" (which was said to possibly include redundancies), between 31 December 2012 and 19 June 2013. On 19 June 2013, PPO informed the Unions that redundancies would commence on 28 June 2013. PPO then selected workers for redundancy without using performance as a selection criterion, despite performance having been specified in the relevant Collective Labour Agreement ("CLA") as a selection criterion.
The Unions served strike notices on PPO, resulting in the matter being referred to the Minister for Labour and Social Security (the "Minister") for settlement. Following the workers' dismissals, the dispute was referred to the IDT by the Minister.
The IDT made awards, finding inter alia that there was no prior consultation with the Unions about redundancy; the Unions were only told about the redundancies on 19 June 2013; and that the workers were unjustifiably dismissed as the selection process was unfair due to (a) the failure to agree the selection criteria for the redundancies with the Unions; and (b) the workers' performance not being one of the selection criteria.
PPO then brought judicial review proceedings, seeking an order quashing the IDT's awards. The judicial review proceedings were dismissed at first instance, and PPO's subsequent appeal against that decision was dismissed.
Parties
Appellant
Private Power Operators Ltd
Respondent
Industrial Disputes Tribunal
National Workers Union
Union of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees
Appeal
Justices
Lord Briggs, Lord Leggatt, Lord Burrows, Lady Rose, Lord Richards
Hearing start date
20 November 2024
Hearing finish date
20 November 2024