TRADE UNION leaders are calling on all workers to vote out the current government in the next general election, saying its lack of fairness and empathy, corruption, failure to perform and the resulting anger and frustration of the populace should be registered at the ballot box.
At a rally in the Queen’s Park Savannah, opposite the seat of the Office of the Prime Minister at Whitehall on December 7, union leaders laid out their issues with the current government.
The stand-out issues were the Finance Minister’s various attempts to break previous collective agreements on wage increases and the Prime Minister's acceptance of a 47.5 per cent wage increase as recommended by the Salaries Review Commission (SRC), while workers were only offered between two and four per cent increase in pay.
In a post-Cabinet news briefing on November 28, Rowley announced he had accepted the salary increase proposed by the SRC for the Office of the Prime Minister. He said he was aware some people would not be happy with the decision but said, “I bear that cross without fear of retribution.”
The union leaders told the crowd of hundreds gathered that they would not tell them who to vote for, but they would tell them who not to vote for – the People’s National Movement (PNM).
>
After the rally, the group marched to Rowley's official residence in St Ann’s to deliver a letter outlining the unions’ demands.
The security at the residence refused to accept the letter. The officer told the union members there was no mailbox and suggested the letter be delivered on Monday.
The envelope with the letter was left tucked behind the coat of arms on the gate in the hope it would be delivered to Rowley.
The recommendations of the SRC will see a salary increase for the Office of the Prime Minister which will raise Rowley's salary from around $59,000 to $87,847.
The current salaries of the President, Prime Minister and Opposition Leader are $64,270, $59,680 and $29,590 respectively. The SRC recommends increasing them to $81,170, $87,847, and $52,159 respectively.
In announcing the decision to accept the SRC's recommendations, Rowley said on November 28, "I subscribe to the fact that the country’s management structure does relatively good work, in some cases excellent work, and where they are to be compensated, I believe the compensation that is recommended by the SRC is not exorbitant for the country’s management structure.”
The unions' letter, which was read out, signed by Oilfields Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget and general secretary of the National Trade Union Centre Michael Annisette on behalf of the trade union movement and the people of Trinidad and Tobago, reminded Rowley of the government’s various responsibilities to the country’s citizens.
It said Rowley justified his salary increase, over $1 million in back pay and significant improvement in pension benefits by saying he worked hard. It said the move sent a “clear and troubling message” that the sacrifices demanded of the workers and the population did not extend to those of privilege and power.
>
“When workers and ordinary citizens across the nation struggle daily under the weight of stagnant wages, bad working conditions, rising inflation, massive job losses, increased taxation and with the high and ever-increasing cost of living, it is unconscionable that those who are tasked with the country’s governance would prioritise their financial comfort over the needs of the broader populace.”
It also pointed out the Chief Personnel Officer Darryl Dindial was the secretary of the Salaries Review Commission (SRC) and so saw his salary increased by 30 per cent. Yet he was attempting to “bully” the unions into taking two per cent for two three-year periods of collective bargaining without the consolidation of cost-of-living allowance.
It demanded the reversal of the Cabinet decision to accept the recommendations of the 120th SRC report; settle all outstanding negotiations; instruct state bodies to meet with the recognised majority unions and offer wage increases comparable to those in the SRC report; withdraw all offers of four per cent over six years without the consolidation of cost of living allowance; reopen all negotiations in which unions accepted four per cent over six years without the consolidation of cola; and ensure cost of living allowance consolidation was maintained for all workers throughout the country.
The letter also demanded the implementation of all negotiated agreements between state enterprises and the respective recognised majority unions; the introduction of a living wage for all workers at the lower end of the economic ladder; the increase of senior citizens’ pension; and investigation of Finance Minister Colm Imbert in the matter raised by the Auditor General regarding the unaccounted $2.5 billion in state revenue.
Speaking outside the gate of the residence, Roget said, “You want to be greedy. You want everything for yourself. And when the people cry out for justice, you barricade yourself with police.”
At the savannah, Roget gave an impromptu performance appraisal of the government with the confirmation of the crowd.
They said it failed in the categories of crime, criminal activity and border security; the economy; agriculture; its treatment of the working class and trade unions, and by extension pensioners; and good governance.
He said the only category the government passed was that of corruption, without elaborating.
>
Roget said that failure had to be converted into action by the people and called on Rowley to call the general election.
“We must be prepared to hurt them as they are hurting us. We must be able to determine who are our friends and who are our enemies...
“They will try to divide us on the basis of race, they will try to divide us on the basis of geography and religion, they will try to divide us so that we cannot come together as one united force to deal with their backsides and to vote them out. But we have to know where our interest lies.”
He said Imbert’s attempts to use the courts against the workers who were considered essential, including teachers, pilots, port workers and T&TEC workers, were akin to modern-day slavery.
He said if government members were to stop working for a month, the country would continue to run smoothly, but if workers were to stop working for a day, the country would shut down. Therefore, the workers should get the 47.5 per cent increase rather than Rowley and other government officials.
Annisette said the people could change what was happening in the country. He said it was important to put aside political affiliations and begin to think about what was best for the country.
He told the crowd their attendance at the rally was not to applaud and make noise, and then, in a few days, forget all the government had done and vote for PNM politicians.
“Them days finish. Let us make that clear, brothers and sisters. We will stand up and defend what is right. We will stand up to what we believe in.”
>
Public Services Association president Leroy Baptiste reiterated the point ,saying some people believed union rallies were “just talk” and they were fed up with it.
He said those workers had better be ready to vote, because a political solution was the only answer to a political problem.
President of the Prison Officers' Association Gerard Gordon warned other political parties that workers would not take similar “abuse” in the future “by any government who we put there to look after our business.”
Deputy president general of the National Union of Government and Federated Workers Clifton Simpson urged business owners to support the workers.
Also in attendance and in apparent support were representatives from various political parties.
These included the political leaders of the Movement for Social Justice David Abdulah; Gary Griffith of the National Transformation Alliance and other members of his party; Timothy Hamel-Smith of Hope, former Senate president; Fuad Abu Bakr of the New National Vision; and several United National Congress members such as deputy political leader David Lee, Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh, Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally, Mayaro MP Rushton Paray and Opposition Senator Wade Mark.
Speaking to Newsday, Lee said the unions had been reaching out to the party, so the members of the UNC were present in solidarity with them.
>
He said for the past nine years the UNC and its political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had yet to be proven wrong about the PNM government.
For example, he said Persad-Bissessar broke the stories on the cost overruns for the Tobago airport, when Rowley caused the commissioner of police merit list to be withdrawn and other issues.
He said whether or not the unions’ message resonated with the people was up to them. It was up to the people of the country to say, "Enough is enough."
Abdulah said he was at the rally because the MSJ has always stood with the trade union movement. Also, he was the one who first called on the trade unions to take action two days after the SRC report was laid in Parliament, so he felt he had to be present.
He said Rowley’s acceptance of the recommendations had moved people from disappointment to anger against the government.
“Other people have not had an increase, or have had a very small increase forced down their throats, and now the PM is getting a 47 per cent increase. There is a tremendous sense of injustice and the lack of fairness in what has transpired, so people are disappointed, angry and upset.”
He said only time would tell if people's feelings would roll into the country’s politics and the polls.
In a statement, Griffith said the protest was not just about the unacceptable SRC report or the insulting four per cent wage increase offered to public servants, but a culmination of years of frustration, born out of mismanagement, poor governance, lack of leadership, biased decision-making, and the persistent disrespect shown to trade unions and the people they represent.
