The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association, JMDA, is demanding that the Industrial Disputes Tribunal, IDT, say when it will hand down its award in the doctors’ long-running overtime dispute with the government.

The Association is also asking whether the Tribunal will address statements suggesting interference in what it describes as an objective and independent process.

The questions come in a statement on Thursday, in response to the IDT’s release on Wednesday.

Nora Gaye Banton reports.

On Wednesday, the Industrial Disputes Tribunal responded to junior doctors who have been escalating their grievances over the delay in delivering a ruling in their overtime claim against the government.

The JMDA’s case centres on the compulsory overtime rates under a contract that expired in 2021, and an allowance the doctors say has been denied since 2023.

Hearings in the matter closed on April 1, six months before the IDT issued its statement.

On Tuesday, the doctors issued an ultimatum to the IDT, saying it must issue a ruling by the close of business today, Thursday, October 1.

In response, the Tribunal urged them to be patient but did not say when it would hand down its award.

The IDT notes that while justice delayed is justice denied, complex matters needing extensive review of exhibits and authorities require care.

In its words, justice must also be careful.

But the JMDA says the Tribunal should stop “denying justice to doctors” and deliver the award without further delay.

The Association is also asking the Tribunal to address the suggestion that there could be interference in what it notes should be an objective and independent process.

That claim was made by trade unionist representing the doctors, Lambert Brown, at a media briefing held by the JMDA on Tuesday.

The JMDA in its statement is also thanking the Association of Government Medical Consultants and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions for standing with it.

The consultants’ association itself has a separate case before the IDT.

That dispute is over salary deductions.

The doctors say their united stance is not only about the current case but also about the many workers who will turn to the tribunal in the future for fair and speedy resolution.

The JMDA closes its statement with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”