Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said: “Never before have workers faced such a concerted and calculated assault and vicious attacks by the worst anti-worker, anti-Labour, anti-trade union and anti-people government as under this vicious and wicked Rowley-led regime.”
In her Labour Day message, she said: “The PNM in its various incarnations has ruthlessly eroded the base of organised Labour. We just have to recall the unjustified closure of Caroni (1975) Ltd. All other countries involved in sugar production are still in business just as all the countries that had been involved in oil refining are still in business and taking advantage of the high fuel prices while Trinidad and Tobago cannot even produce bitumen to patch our horrible roads.”
Persad-Bissessar said under her watch, they settled over one hundred and thirty-three (133) collective agreements valued at close to $6b. She said since then, no negotiations have been settled around the table by this “vicious PNM government since 2015, except for the imposition of four (4) per cent.”
The Opposition Leader said it was indeed painful to witness public sector workers being forced to accept 4 per cent salary increases only because the other option available was the prospect of having collective agreements for five years and more being imposed on them by the Special Tribunal.
“The Rowley-led PNM knows how to apply the law in an oppressive manner. They do not rule for the benefit of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. This provision in the law is harsh and oppressive and must be changed to reflect the norms of the industrial relations practice of three-year agreements,” she added.
She alleged that the government is now making efforts to broaden the scope of essential services to include the oil and gas sector.
“This must not be allowed to take place,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar said “A UNC government when it returns to office shall review the laws in relation to essential services to ensure that only the truly essential services are placed in that category, consistent with the conventions and recommendations of the International Labour Organization (ILO).”