Couva South MP, Rudranath Indarsingh has described as shameful the eight year delay in negotiations between the management of the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Corporation (TTPOST) and the workers of thecompany.
In a statement on Tuesday, he said, “It is shameful that after three (3) bargaining periods have passed, negotiations for any of these periods are yet to begin.”
Indarsingh said he’s been advised that these negotiations did not commence because the parameters for such were not provided to the management by the Government.
“This advice came to me from a delegation of the Postal Workers Union, who came to meet me in my capacity as Opposition shadow member with responsibility for labour. The delegation comprised of union President Shurland Trim and union General Secretary David Forbes.”
He said according to the President and the General Secretary, Bargaining Unit 1, consisting of 800-plus workers, and Bargaining Unit 3, consisting of 100-plus middle managers, are owed for three (3) collective bargaining periods.
“Workers in Unit 1 are owed for January 1 2014 to December 31 2016, January 1 2017 to December 31 2020 and January 1 2021 to December 31 2023. Workers in Unit 3 are owed for July 1 2014 to June 30 2017, July 1 2017 to June 30 2020 and July 1 2020 to June 30 2023.”
Indarsingh said, “The over twelve hundred (1200) workers at TTPOST have been living on 2014 salaries. This is unacceptable, considering the increasing costs of living, escalating food prices, rising utilities, imminent property taxes, skyrocketing fuel costs and other exorbitant increases under the Rowley-led PNM administration.”
He said, “While the State has engaged workers across the public sector in negotiation, workers in the Postal Workers Union continue to wait in hope and bewilderment over this Government’s failure to negotiate with them. ”
Indarsingh is now calling on the Minister of Public Utilities to advise this country and the workers of the Postal Workers’ Union as to the reason for the multiple-year delay in negotiations, and as to when negotiations will commence.