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The Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers (JALGO) is a 5,000-member public sector trade union in Jamaica which represents workers in local and national government, governmental corporations, quasi-government bodies and other agencies created by statute. Its members are non-supervisory personnel and include fire-fighters with the Jamaica Fire Brigade, workers at the National Water Commission, non-nursing personnel in the health service, non-teachers in the schools, workers at the National Irrigation Commission and government employees in the 13 Parish Councils.〔"JALGO Working Towards Better Benefits For Workers," ''Jamaica Gleaner,'' November 21, 2000.〕 ==History== JALGO was formed in 1940. After a series of labor uprisings, colonial British authorities passed a reform law in December 1938 legalizing trade unionism in Jamaica. The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) both were formed after passage of the trade union law.〔Black, ''A New History of Jamaica,'' 1974; Eaton, ''Alexander Bustamante and Modern Jamaica,'' paperback ed., 1995.〕 BITU and TUC quickly elevated the wages of some manual laborers to a point where they were at the same level or even higher than clerical workers in local government. When white-collar workers employed by the city of Kingston began demanding wage increases, the colonial government set up a one-man commission to make recommendations. The white-collar workers consulted with Alexander Bustamante, Noel Nethersole and Frank Hill—leaders of the nascent Jamaican labor movement—on what to do. Bustamante and the others recommended the formation of a trade union to empower the workers.〔"A Look At The Early Roots," ''Jamaica Gleaner,'' November 21, 2000.〕 On November 16, 1940, Kingston city workers formed the Municipal Officers Association. Although Bustamante and others had counseled an industrial union, membership in the new organization was limited to white-collar workers. Government workers throughout Jamaica flocked to the new union, and parish branches sprung up nationwide. The first general meeting of the union was held in June 1941 and a constitution adopted. The Municipal Officers Association quickly won improved salaries and benefits. Government workers decided that a national organization was needed to coordinate the activities of the parish branches, and the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers (JALGO) was formed a short while later.〔 In 1961, E. Lloyd Taylor was elected General Secretary of JALGO. Taylor went into government service in 1945 and immediately joined JALGO. He was elected president of the Kingston parish branch in 1955. Taylor fervently believed in industrial unionism, and quickly joined with other militant elements in the branch to push for expansions in the definition of membership. The JALGO executive council opposed the move, and threatened to dissolve the Kingston branch. But Taylor and his followers prevailed, and in 1961 they succeeded in amending the union constitution to allow weekly paid workers to become members. Taylor was elected General Secretary, but it was not until 1966 more far-reaching changes were made. But by 1970, JALGO membership was open to every government worker regardless of their category or status. Along with the changes in membership came a more liberal and activist outlook for JALGO.〔 In the 1970s, JALGO focused on building its membership, securing expanded worker rights, and improving benefits. Taylor was an active proponent of trade union unity, and he pushed JALGO to play a lead role in forming the Joint Trade Unions Research Development Centre (JTURDC) in 1980.〔 Talks between Jamaica and the government of Norway had led to the establishment of JTURDC, which served four major unions: BITU, the National Workers' Union (NWU), the TUC, and JALGO. The JTURDC later evolved into the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU).〔Allen, "Dwight Nelson: He Is Not Himself If He Does Not Serve," ''Jamaica Observer,'' June 13, 2004.〕 But the union suffered significant setbacks in the 1980s. JALGO had nearly 15,000 members in 1980. The Edward Seaga administration restructured local government services between 1984 and 1986, with many local government functions assumed by the national government. More than 8,000 JALGO members at the local level lost their jobs, including a large number of elected leaders.〔 In the midst of these membership losses, JALGO and other unions on the island were forced to call a general strike. As inflation soared to 30 percent, the government offered JALGO a 12 to 15 percent wage increase. JALGO, BITU and other unions representing 250,000 members (roughly 10 percent of the island's population) engaged in a four-day general strike to win higher wages. The strike ended in a stalemate, but significantly weakened the Seaga administration.〔"Jamaica Hit By General Strike," ''Associated Press,'' June 25, 1985.〕 Then in 1987 the national government proposed nationalizing fire-fighting departments nationwide. The "Fire Brigade Act" passed in October 1988, stripping fire-fighters and fire officers of the right to joint a union. Many members of the Fire Brigade refused to end their JALGO memberships, and in 1990 the act was amended to restore the right to join the union.〔〔"Jamaica: Government to Reconsider Controversial Law," ''Inter Press Service,'' September 17, 1987.〕 After 34 years leading the union, Taylor stepped down as General Secretary of JALGO in 1995. Helene Davis-Whyte was elected his successor. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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