The Group of Independent Trade Unions and NGOS is extremely disturbed about the position that now seems to becoming the norm, for employers to put workers on the breadline simply in order to increase profit levels. In the last few weeks there has been a spate of retrenchments and/or the threat of retrenchment. If the employers get their way several hundred workers will be out of employment.

We refer to the following:

o Retrenchment of workers employed by multinational Nestle. This company has violated the proper industrial relations procedures with respect to prior notification and discussion with the Union – the OWTU. In addition, the company cannot claim to be in a loss situation as it is highly profitable. It is a straight case of Nestle seeking to maximize its profits, globally, at the expense of local workers.

o Retrenchment of workers employed on contract as merchandisers at Lever Brothers. These workers were formally employed with Levers, which some years ago, determined that it would maximize its profits by contracting out its merchandising function. One of the workers so retrenched was given the contract by Levers and she, in turn, hired her former colleagues on contract. They have now being put on the breadline because their employer, no doubt with the support of Levers, now seeks to hire cheaper, non-unionised labour thus increasing profits.

o The threat of job losses at TSTT as a result of a plan to restructure this very profitable company. This restructuring is taking place at the behest of the minority shareholder - multinational Cable and Wireless, which has also put foreigners in jobs that can be done by locals.

o The threat of further job losses at Lever Brothers as the process of trade liberalization bites deeper, with the company reorganizing on a global basis to locate various centers of production where costs (especially labour costs) are the lowest possible. Thus, although it is making substantial profits here, Levers is moving production out of Trinidad and importing the said products from Santo Domingo and as far away as India – just to increase its global profits!

o The planned retrenchment at BWIA where the airline is using the events of September 11^th, 2001 to justify its decision to reduce the workforce. While stating that it must reduce costs the company is silent about the sums paid to CEO Conrad Aleong’s firm of consultants. Any cost reduction at BWIA must begin at the top!

o The long talked about restructuring of Caroni will also result in the loss of paid employment at this company. We warn that no decision should be taken about the future of Caroni unless there has been full discussion and involvement of the workers and farmers.

The Group of Independent Trade Unions and NGOS expresses its solidarity with all the affected workers in their struggle to save their livelihood. We will be holding a Joint COSSABO on Wednesday March 13^th at 1.30 pm at the OWTU’s Paramount Building to deal with all the various issues affecting working people and to map out a major campaign to struggle for jobs for the unemployed, quality jobs and job security for the employed.

This has particular importance in light of the public concern about increased crime. It is well known that unemployment and poverty are major contributing factors to high crime rates, and therefore it is hypocritical for employer organizations to call for tough action on crime when their members, by callously putting workers on the breadline and/or super exploiting their workers, are in fact exacerbating the social conditions that give rise to increased levels of crime. We therefore call on employers to desist from the strategy of maximizing profits through the retrenchment of workers.

David Abdulah

Chief Education and Research Officer, Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union

For the Group of Independent Trade Unions and NGOS

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PG’s Message for 2002

I wish it like everybody else but indications are that the New Year is unlikely to be happy or prosperous. 2002 from all indicators, promises to be a tough and demanding year for all of us in the OWTU and workers and their Unions generally. Our own political and, as some have identified, constitutional crisis here will pose serious challenges which will themselves impact our socio-economic well being. And as has been the workers’ experience – if we do not organise, unite and fight a disciplined battle – it is big business, the owners of capital and their political party leaders who will broker a settlement that will benefit the interest only of the haves and to disadvantage of the have-nots. We must be clear therefore as to where, as workers we must stand.

A brief reflection on the past thirteen (13) months would reveal the tremendous amount of work which we did – negotiating improved terms and conditions of employment, wage and salary packages, retirement and pension benefits and wellness and medical plan provisions for thousands of our members and the many thousands of their families. It was indeed very good work done in an environment perhaps slightly less hostile than 2002 portends. But we nevertheless succeeded without serious industrial action.

We successfully completed negotiations on the first OWTU/Powergen Collective Agreement (in its own right) since the divestment of T & TEC’s Generated Facilities in 1995.

For the first time in fifteen years, we settled a new collective agreement with T & TEC with a positive pay increase in the first year of the agreement. We are at this time awaiting T & TEC’s call to begin discussions on improvements to the EHOP and Pension Plans.

Petrotrin’s Monthly Salaried workers had their terms and conditions and salaries improved and are expecting other adjustments on the conclusion of some residual matters. Some of those residual matters are common and others consequential to Hourly Rated, Weekly Paid and Junior Staff workers.

We successfully improved terms and conditions at the TCL Group – Ready Mix, TPL and TCL – with the latter paying the highest productivity bonus and real wage increase ever and with the Ready Mix workers receiving the sector’s best COLA formula of 13c for every one (1) point rise in the IRP.

Workers at Flavorite, CPI, AGOS, Classic Caterers, Tye Manufacturing, Colgate Palmolive, TECU, Trinidad Aggregate Products, and National Canners were not to be forgotten. They all had their wage Agreements settled at bilateral negotiations led by very committed Executive and Labour Relations Officers of our proud OWTU.

We wages tremendous struggle to improve the conditions and compensation for those offshore workers who make life in our oil and gas economy real for the people of Trinidad and Tobago. We succeeded in moving those workers’ offshore bonus from a paltry $300 per hitch to a sum of $1600 (according to the employers’ interpretation) or $2400 (by the interpretation of the Union).

At Lever Brothers we again made significant improvements to terms and conditions of employment and the remuneration package without third party intervention. We have done well.

The Hydro-Agri workers too have realized significant improvements with the Settlement of negotiations for the Bargaining Units there. And at TRINMAR where we only recently received formal Recognition for the Monthly Paid, a most successful round of negotiations were concluded with pay increases to the tune of 11.5% effective February 2000 and a settlement bonus of $7,500 per worker. I am tempted to boast that it is only the OWTU prepared and knowledgeably led will achieve these feats. And there are many more which for the brevity of this message cannot be detailed now.

But it had not all been smooth sailing. We did all these and more in hostile Human and Industrial Relations circumstances. We experienced the worse displays of management arrogance and backward industrial relations practices and discrimination at the hands of a politically influenced Board and Management at the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission. Malfeasance, mismanagement and political patronage and industrial disorder seemed to have been the preoccupation at Petrotrin and NP. At these two important State Enterprises it was a case of the Party first, second, third and last. The important business of the enterprises and the Human and Industrial Relations functions were always an after thought low down on the list. That is why Petrotrin and NP performed badly. The new political arrangement seems headed in a similar direction thus continuing the decay in the body politic.

Retrenchment and VSSP have been the most devastating blows to our industries and our membership strength. Contract Labour is expensive due mainly to corruption, duplicity and its quite often substandard results. And contract labourers being the transient workers that they are, are difficult to organise. In the midst of all these there continued to be the subversion of the Union and attempts at sabotage of its functioning by termites within. We are determined though, that we will survive and succeed.

Much was done and much was achieved. There is more to be done and brought over to this new year. In addition our 2002 Programme is being rolled out. All of our work – Operations Improvement; Education; Social and Political Development; Organisational Resource Development; Business and Enterprise Development – all of them will call for your support and involvement. They will contribute to the OWTU continuing to be second to none among Trade Unions and People’s Organisations regionally. And I continue to recommend that tomorrow; you should not leave home without OWTU membership. Let us work together to meet and overcome the challenges of the time and contribute to a productive and rewarding 2002.

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