340 JUTC workers to lose jobs
THE first 100 of 340 workers of the cash-strapped Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) to be laid off will be sent home tomorrow.
According to the bus company, the layoffs will affect 256 customer service agents (conductors and conductresses) and 84 drivers, but the figure could rise once the company signs off on the number of voluntary redundancy requests.
At the same time, another 60 workers represented by the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), are also expected to be have their jobs made redundant once an agreement is reached between that union and management.
Lambert Brown, president of the University of Allied Workers Union (UAWU), which represents the bulk of the affected workers, said 256 customer service agents will leave by the end of February, with the first batch scheduled to go tomorrow.
The agreement finalising the job redundancies was signed yesterday by Brown and JUTC chairman, Douglas Chambers, and witnessed by the transport minister, Mike Henry. The signing took place at the ministry’s offices in Kingston.