Last Lap

Trying to get something on screen... I will be very happy when I don't feel tied to a computer!

In the new 'rabbit hutch' trying to distill thoughts from all these papers and books!!

It really is the last lap. I am just about done! It seems though that the closer it comes the harder it gets. The dissertation has had me going. My thoughts are varied... going in many directions still not too concrete. That is the hardest part, watching the time go by without finding my way. I keep hope though because I believe that God is with me and he has brought me to this place and is more than able to finish the good work that he has started in me.

If you guys recall I am doing a comparative analysis of the employment dispute resolution mechanisms of the UK and Jamaica. This will look at methods used in collective disputes (those involving trade unions and employers) and individual disputes involving non-unionised workers and employers. The position in the UK is that trade union representation has dwindled in the wake of hostile government policies between 1980 - 1997, the Thatcher years. That in turn has led to less usage of collective mechanisms simply because there is not so much need for them and the perennial ethos of volunteerism in British Industrial Relations is still strong. Concurrently there has been the extraordinary growth of individual employment rights given to workers by statute and the provision of the Employment Tribunal system for enforcing these rights. This has eclipsed the role of the trade unions to a great degree while putting tremendous pressure on government resources to provide them.

In Jamaica we have almost the direct opposite. Our Industrial Relations is built on Trade Unions which are of course umbilically linked to politics. Like the UK the Jamaican government provides assistance in resolving collective disputes in the form of conciliation and arbitration (IDT) and there is still a strong emphasis on volunteerism in Industrial Relations. Unlike the UK, however there was no conscious government effort to thwart unionism. Yet in the wake of capitalism and globalisation their power and influence has waned. Thus though the collective mechanisms exist, and their usage by the unions remain, the segment of the working populace that has the benefit thereof is diminishing. Importantly while non-unionised persons in the UK have been granted protection by more and more legislation giving employment rights, Jamaica has remained stagnant. True there are certain basic rights provided by statute but the crux of the matter is there is no dedicated dispute resolution mechanism provided for the enforcement of these rights rudimentary as they are. The IDT is not accessible to non-unionised persons, only unionised persons may approach. Where does that leave that 80% of Jamaica's non-represented workforce?

Well let me get back to it... and try to make all of what I just said coherent! Remember to keep praying for me and all of us trying to finish work like this. I am really ready to get done and go home right now.