Unions: Trinidad and Tobago will crash if public servants don’t work

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OILFIELD Workers Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget said unions are demanding government put an end to all contract work in the public service, fully and finally settle all negotiations, reopen those where unions had to accept four per cent and pay workers their true worth.

Roget was speaking at a media conference at the Transport and Industrial Workers Union (TIWU) on December 3, where he was backed by representatives of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU), Prison Officers Association (POA), Communication Workers Union (CWU), Industrial, General and Sanitation Workers Union (IGSWU), the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW), Estate Police Association (EPA) and the TT Postal Workers Union.

The union heads threatened to stage country-wide protests over the prime minister's acceptance of the recommendations of the Salaries Review Commission (SRC), which – if implemented – would see Dr Rowley's salary increasing from $59,680 to $87,847 – a 47 per cent increase.

The next protest is set for in front of Rowley's office, Whitehall on Saturday.

Roget said the Caribbean Solidarity Union in London would be picketing TT’s High Commission in London on Friday in support of the trade union movement in TT.

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Roget said this government had failed at its job to ensure a good quality of life for the population, over the ten years of its tenure.

“I can’t say that a proper performance appraisal of the government would see them get a raise in salary.”

He said this government was weaponising the courts, especially the essential services division of the industrial court, and using it to implement injunctions against protesting workers.

Roget said the unions are not prepared to take the PM’s statement that he did not know if the SRC’s recommendations were fair.

“The SRC is sanctioned and selected by Dr Keith Christopher Rowley, so he gave unto himself. When asked if it was fair, he said it didn’t matter. If his salary goes up, his pension goes up and he gets his salary as his pension, while there are public servants looking to retire who are getting up to $5,000 as their pension,” Roget said.

He added if public servants stopped working, the country could not run.

SWWTU president general Michael Annisette said people need to make a distinction between government as government and government as employer. He said as the latter, government has to accord rights to workers as are listed under the Industrial Relations Act.

“They have people working under 2010 salaries and we have seen a level of interference through the courts. We need to coalesce our powers as workers rather than falling into the trap of thinking the government will take us out of the morass we are in.”

Annisette said in some cases, the four per cent offer resulted in workers’ salaries being reduced by 25-28 per cent as the offers had not factored in current cost of living and inflation.

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TIWU president Shawn Roberts said this government was starving the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) by not buying enough buses or maintaining the ones it has. He said the Ministry of Education and the Judiciary owe the National Maintenance Training and Security Company Ltd (MTS) millions of dollars.

POA president Gerard Gordon said the acceptance of the SRC report has given unions clear proof that this government can do better for all workers. He said the prison officers have been bullied in the Industrial Court.

He too reiterated that if all public workers cease working for one day, the country would come to a grinding halt.

CWU vice president Joely Mohammed called on government to pay retroactive wages to retrenched TSTT workers.

He said government needs to inform the registered majority union when renovations at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre would begin and how they would affect the bargaining unit.

IGSWU vice president Michael Warner said the workers worked in hazardous conditions, including rain, sun, dust and stench. He said they needed proper health care and a salary increase. He said negotiations have stalled since 2013.

NUGFW second deputy president general Clifton Simpson said the government should remember the Constitution adding that labourers should not work in inhumane conditions. He said the unions and the workforce feel deeply insulted whenever there is talk of economic justice.

He said the police, rather than fighting crime, were used against trade unions when members engage in marches. He said when members complained of being robbed during these marches, the police had turned a blind eye.

EPA president Derek Richardson said MTS was under threat and if this was not rectified, thousands of employees would go home.

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TT Postal Workers Union general secretary David Forbes called on TTPOST to account for having a negotiation meeting on December 2, in Santa Cruz, rather than at the organisation’s board room or the TIWU offices.

Roget said the workers were prepared to make the government "uncomfortable," if they did not make workers comfortable. He called on the public to stand with the unions on December 7.