CPO urges patience as SFC salary process continues

Chief Per­son­nel Of­fi­cer Com­man­der Dr Daryl Din­di­al says he sym­pa­this­es with work­ers of the San Fer­nan­do City Cor­po­ra­tion and is ask­ing for pa­tience as the State pro­ceeds with new salary arrange­ments.

Com­man­der Dr Din­di­al said the pay­ments arise from Col­lec­tive Agree­ments for hourly, dai­ly and week­ly-paid em­ploy­ees for the pe­ri­ods Jan­u­ary 1 2014 to De­cem­ber 31 2016 and Jan­u­ary 1 2017 to De­cem­ber 31 2019.

He said the agree­ments, signed on April 24 2025, mark a step in ne­go­ti­a­tions but re­quire ad­min­is­tra­tive and pro­ce­dur­al steps be­fore im­ple­men­ta­tion.

Com­man­der Dr Din­di­al re­ject­ed state­ments by Pres­i­dent Gen­er­al Er­mine De Bique-Meade of the Con­trac­tors and Gen­er­al Work­ers Trade Union which linked de­lays to his of­fice. He said Col­lec­tive Agree­ments for dai­ly-rat­ed work­ers re­quire an ad­di­tion­al statu­to­ry step be­fore im­ple­men­ta­tion.

He said this re­quire­ment falls un­der Sec­tions 44 (2) and 45 of the In­dus­tri­al Re­la­tions Act Chap. 88:01.

Com­man­der Dr Din­di­al said Cab­i­net rat­i­fied the agree­ments on Jan­u­ary 22 2026. He said a re­quest was then made un­der the Act for non-ob­jec­tion by Min­is­ter of Labour, Small and Mi­cro En­ter­prise De­vel­op­ment and for reg­is­tra­tion at the In­dus­tri­al Court of Trinidad and To­ba­go by let­ter dat­ed Jan­u­ary 26 2026.

He said he and Pres­i­dent Gen­er­al De Bique-Meade held dis­cus­sions on items re­quir­ing re­view at a meet­ing on Feb­ru­ary 26 2026. He said amend­ments were signed on March 13 2026.

Com­man­der Dr Din­di­al said the amend­ments were sent to the Min­istry of Labour, Small and Mi­cro En­ter­prise De­vel­op­ment on March 16 2026. He said the Min­istry com­plet­ed its re­view and sent the records to the In­dus­tri­al Court on March 19 2026.

He said com­ple­tion of the Min­is­ter’s statu­to­ry step on March 19 al­lows for the is­sue of im­ple­men­ta­tion in­struc­tions to the Min­istry of Rur­al De­vel­op­ment and Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment and the San Fer­nan­do City Cor­po­ra­tion.

Com­man­der Dr Din­di­al said the in­struc­tions will al­low the start of im­ple­men­ta­tion of re­vised salaries and al­lowances in con­sul­ta­tion with the Min­istry of Fi­nance.

He said the in­struc­tions have been pre­pared and will be is­sued on March 23 2026.

Com­man­der Dr Din­di­al said Pres­i­dent Gen­er­al De Bique-Meade has been in­formed of the sta­tus and next steps. He re­peat­ed his call for pa­tience as the process con­tin­ues.