The National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) says it has been forced to bring to the attention of the national community the behaviour of the management of Blue Ocean Marine Limited.
It claims the behaviour of the company – which operates out of the Pt. Lisas Business Park in Pt. Lisas – speaks of apparent discrimination and failure to observe the tenets of good industrial relations practices as it pertains to fairness and equity in the workplace.
NATUC says it is alarmed and disheartened that several workers who have worked with the company and who are entitled to gratuity payments, have had their payments unilaterally changed without discussions and or engagement of the affected employees.
The trade union pointed out that Blue Ocean Marine Limited, is operating via contract for the National Energy Corporation, a government entity, adding that from information it has received, NEC would have disbursed the required sum of money to ensure that legal and moral obligations to pay are met.
NATUC’s statement reads in full:
The National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) is forced to bring to the attention of the national community the behaviour of the management of Blue Ocean Marine Limited, located at Unit 14, Pt. Lisas Business Park in Pt. Lisas.
The behaviour of the company speaks of apparent discrimination and failure to observe the tenets of good industrial relations practices as it pertains to fairness and equity in the workplace.
It is a rudimentary principle of labour laws and good industrial relations in Trinidad and Tobago, that the terms and conditions of employment of a worker cannot be altered without the employees’ knowledge or consent.
We wish the company to note that within the process of collective bargaining, social justice and social dialogue is the hallmark of good industrial relations practices and it places a sacred responsibility on any employer to act in good faith. Further, any deviation from this norm can be construed as a fundamental breach of the employer’s responsibilities to his employees.
NATUC is alarmed and disheartened that several workers who have worked with the company and who are entitled to gratuity payments, have had their payments unilaterally changed without discussions and or engagement of the affected employees. In some instances, the employer wants to pay the workers six (6 days) of gratuitous payment at the end of their contract, rather than the customary fourteen (14 days) gratuitous payment.
It is noteworthy that the same company, Blue Ocean Marine Limited, is operating via contract for the National Energy Corporation (NEC), a government entity, and we have been reliably informed that NEC would have disbursed the required sum of money to ensure that Blue Ocean Marine Limited is able to meet their legal and moral obligations to pay the affected workers the 14 days gratuity, for each year of service.
In this regard, we call on the government to intervene in this matter so that the affected workers can be paid their correct gratuitous payments, which is fourteen (14 days) for each year of service.
At this time, the URGENT intervention of the government, the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Energy, is imperative since we have solid information that Blue Ocean Marine Limited’s permit to operate in Trinidad and Tobago expires in one month.
NATUC gives its full support to the employees of Blue Ocean Marine Limited and trusts that good sense would prevail and that the company would make good on their obligation to pay the workers their just rewards.
Further we assure the workers that we will fight to the very end to ensure that they are given their correct gratuitous payments.
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