Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

Williams

Following a meeting yesterday morning between the board of Air Jamaica and representatives of the National Workers Union (NWU) and the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees, tension has somewhat abated over the sudden resignation of former president Mike Conway.

Tension escalated on Thursday afternoon following the announcement of Mr. Conway's departure when workers walked off the job for a short period.

However senior negotiating officer at the NWU, Granville Valentine, has said the workers are now placated after what he described as a "good meeting".

"I think the meeting went well, we got some clarity on a lot of things and we had the opportunity to have direct dialogue with the board," he told The Gleaner.

Mr. Valentine said that certain issues, such as lines of communication, board appointments and general business pertaining to Air Jamaica, were discussed.

corrective measures

"We have tabled certain arguments and corrective measures for Air Jamaica," he said, adding that "we believe the airline is top heavy in management and there is the duplication of duties, we also spoke to the fact that management has failed over and over".Mr. valentine disclosed that "we spoke to accountability and that members of the board who are non-performers should be removed. We also believe that any person on the previous board should be held accountable for bad decisions made."

Tony Lindo, Noel Hylton, Marcia Forbes, Kingsley Cooper, Ian Kerr, Millicent Hughes and Rex Nettleford are the members of the new board. Mr. Nettleford and Mrs. Hughes have served on a previous board of the national airline.

Shirley Williams, the newly appointed chairman of the board, also described the meeting as a productive one.

"The meeting was pretty good; I think we understand each other clearly," she told The Gleaner.

Ms. Williams is now looking to the future and said a meeting will be held next week with representatives of Virgin Atlantic to discuss the sale of Air Jamaica's slots at the Heathrow Airport in London, England. The sale of the slots to Virgin Atlantic by the People's National Party administration, which demitted office after their September 3 general election loss, has been a point of contention with Mike Henry, the current Minister of Transport and Works, calling for a reassessment of the deal when he was in Opposition.

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com