Putting our Irons to rest
IF WE are to single out one individual, who has had the most impact on modern industrial relations practice in Jamaica today, then the consensus has to be Anthony G Irons, former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. On Wednesday last, Irons took his final bow and, after a prolonged illness, has now gone on to join other stalwarts, who ushered in the new era of labour management relations.
It would be disingenuous to downplay the contribution of his predecessors SG Kirkcaldy and Ben Carter, both of whom ushered in the epoch of industrial relations characterised by the slew of labour laws passed between 1973 and 1979.
Irons is perhaps the best example of knowledge and integrity trumping qualifications. Graduating from St George’s College, one of the four great institutions on North Street, he had no tertiary certification. Yet, few could argue about his awesome body of knowledge of all the labour laws, as well as the general practices associated with their administration.
Understanding the context within which Irons led the ministry is important. Taking over as Chief Director of the Industrial Relations Division during Jamaica’s undeclared civil war, he saw the country as divided as a pudding cut with a sharp knife. Two hostile camps with their union arms were constantly in apposition and opposition. An industrial dispute was not simply one which emanated from the contract of employment between employers and workers, over their terms and conditions. Rather, they often had their genesis in extraneous factors. For example, it was not unusual for a strike to be called by workers, led by their union, because of a wider level of disgruntlement with a member of parliament, whose party was affiliated to the other side of the House.
At the time the People’s National Party (PNP) and its two unions, the National Workers Union, and the Union of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees, were almost seamless in their identities. Not directly affiliated, the Trades Union Congress was also very closely tied to the PNP, with its head appointed a long-serving senator.
On the other hand, the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union was firmly part of the Jamaica Labour Party apparatus. Between these two trade unions, the majority of non-specialised unionised workers were subsumed.
NOT IN THE SAME LEAGUE
Important to note, the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) was not in the same league, and in fact, being directly affiliated to another ‘League’, the Workers Liberation, later renamed the Workers Party of Jamaica, it struggled for validation outside of the University circle. Even the trade union movement itself found shameless ways of keeping it out of the Joint Trade Unions Research Development Centre, which later morphed into the base for the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Union, which, in its initial years, put up wire fences to keep the UAWU out.
Inter-union rivalry was at an all-time high. Claims for bargaining rights were fast and furious, and myriad trade unionists fought and made a stink over minute matters. Many of these are sadly forgotten or neglected by the movement and even their own unions. I pause to remember Lascelles Beckford, Lascelles Perry, Vin Foote, Winston Shaw, Izet Nicholas, Alvin Sinclair, Trevor Waite, Canute Searchwell, Fred Clarke, Claude O’Reagan, Reg Ennis, Clifton Brown, Scully Scott, Frank McDonald and Thossy Kelly. There are many others who got no love from history.
Between the 1970s and the mid-1990s, distrust and mistrust were high in the society and in the field of labour relations. True, there were a few conciliators at the ministry, who might have been green-tinted ‘Shearerphiles’, or orange-blushed ‘Manleyites’. However, Irons guided us along the straight and narrow.
“We must be like Caesar’s wife; beyond suspicion!” Not once in my more than decadelong tenure at 1f North Street did he ever suggest or ask about political affiliation.
This RJRGLEANER group owes a mountain of gratitude to him. Since I left the ministry, he has told me many times, “You and O’Gilvie are the best to have come from out of our midst.” The O’Gilvie under reference is my Fortis big brother Anthony, who left as a senior conciliator and revolutionised the entire scope and practice of industrial relations in the Gleaner Company and ultimately the group after the 2016 merger.
OWE IRONS
I owe Irons for the confidence he placed in a little 22-year-old ‘boy’. Endorsing me as a Light Blue like himself, he looked at my academic profile and said, “I see you have a degree!” which was quite rare in the service then, and anchored me with the sober admonition, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating!”
He joked about a PhD who had worked in the ministry, and, based on his record, couldn’t even settle the dregs in his lemonade; much less a strike. His trust and backing allowed me to gain knowledge and experience which I never imagined and he provided me the space to teach Industrial Relations to hundreds of public servants and dozens of trade unionists, including the heads of the two largest unions.
Yet, Irons, a true Georgian, emphasised humility and the need to look out for the vulnerable and be “good and true” our Georgian tagline.
Ministers respected Irons, and he guided the career of Portia Simpson Miller. Only one minister had any dissonance with him and my suspicion is either because Irons’ penmanship was horrible or because the cameo minister didn’t speak the English we learned at St George’s ‘too proper’.
In a period when armchair degreed men have lots of fluff and little substance, Tony Irons walked the talk and taught us that pieces of paper without humble knowledge, experience and integrity, make men succeed in the world of men, but fail miserably as real men.
Sleep well, Uncle Tony, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam; “To the Greater Glory of God”.
Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.