Caribbean Airlines Ltd (Appellant) v Communication Transport and General Workers' Union (Respondent) (Trinidad and Tobago)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2024/1004

Jurisdiction

Trinidad and Tobago

Parties

Appellant(s)

Caribbean Airlines Limited

Respondent(s)

Communication Transport and General Workers' Union

Issue

Did the Court of Appeal err in upholding the Industrial Court’s ruling that the Appellant is the successor to British West Indian Airways and therefore bound to recognise the Respondent as one of its recognised majority unions under the Industrial Relations Act?

Facts

The Appellant has been the national airline and flag carrier of Trinidad and Tobago since 1 January 2007. Prior to that, the national airline was British West Indian Airways (“BWIA”) until its closure on 31 December 2006. The Respondent is a trade union which represented certain categories workers of BWIA. The Respondent was a recognised majority union of BWIA pursuant to two recognition certificates issued in 1976. In 2007, the Respondent applied to the Industrial Court (“IC”) for a declaration that the Appellant was the successor of BWIA and that the recognition certificates continued to be valid following the successorship. In 2017, the IC ruled in favour of the Respondent. It held that the Appellant was the successor employer of BWIA and therefore bound to recognise the Respondent as one of its recognised majority unions under the 1976 certificates. The Appellant raised 16 grounds of appeal to the Court of Appeal. In summary, the Appellant argued that the fact findings of the IC were not supported by the evidence and that the IC was wrong in law to find that the Appellant was the successor to BWIA because at the relevant time the collective bargaining agreement between BWIA and the Respondent had expired and the relevant employees received severance benefits. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. There was no good reason to depart from the findings of fact of the IC and the IC had not erred in law. Neither the absence of a collective bargaining agreement in force nor the payment of severance benefits were an impediment to a finding of successorship. The Appellant now appeals to His Majesty’s Privy Council.

Date of issue

19 December 2024

Case origin

Appeal As of Right

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