Imbert said the Patrick Manning government will not take over any of Air Jamaica’s debts and that CAL will not acquire or merge with Air Jamaica.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – One of the unions representing workers at the soon to be sold Air Jamaica, says the authorities breached the law when it announced that the positions of all employees would be made redundant next month.

“They went even further; they’re now issuing the workers’ records to Caribbean Airlines (CAL) without the unions’ intervention or knowledge and now Caribbean Airlines is carrying out interviews. This is a breach against the airline’s own rules and regulations,” said the National Workers Union (NWU).

The union said that the airline among other things, failed to inform the unions of the redundancy exercise as is required by law and is warning of “trouble” if redundancy benefits are not paid on April 12, the date that the staff cuts are to be carried out.

Last week, the Jamaica Airline Pilots Association (JALPA) warned that the announcement of staff cuts and downsizing at Air Jamaica would lead to much instability at the entity ahead of its divestment.

According to JALPA, the authorities were premature with their announcement since there is still a great amount of uncertainty surrounding the divestment of the financially strapped national carrier.

On Tuesday, Air Jamaica announced a further reduction in the number of its routes.

The airline has ended its service to the Orlando International Airport in Florida after 20 years and also suspended service from New York’s JFK Airport to Grenada.

The service from Jamaica to Chicago, Curacao, Havana, Cuba and Nassau, Bahamas will end on April 12.

Last week, a senior Trinidad and Tobago government minister said there would be no merger or acquisition of Air Jamaica by the Port of Spain-based CAL.

Works Minister Colm Imbert said when the financially-strapped airline is shut down, CAL will take over its profitable routes to ensure Jamaica maintains its tourism lifeline with its major markets in North America and Europe.

Imbert said the Patrick Manning government will not take over any of Air Jamaica’s debts and that CAL will not acquire or merge with Air Jamaica.

He said CAL has been contracted to take up the slack to service Air Jamaica’s routes.

“The tourism industry is the lifeblood of the Jamaican economy, so even though they may be having problems with their airline, they still need to have access to these markets.