“[…] The mantra of those in authority, who are now offering public sector workers a meagre 2% over an eight-year period, was repeated time after time: ‘We are all in this together.’ “But I wish to remind them of a famous quote which says this: ‘We are not all in …
Read More »NWU: Remove RHAs’ horrendous contract system; end master-and-servant syndrome
“[…] Short-term contract labour has been in widespread use throughout the Regional Health Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago ever since the establishment of the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) in the 1990s… Short-term contract workers obviously suffer anxiety over their job security and are at a disadvantage when it comes to …
Read More »MSJ expresses solidarity with Lake Asphalt workers and others who are owed pay
“[…] This development is a clear reflection of how those in authority treat those they feel do not count whilst spewing the refrain that we are all in this together. In this regard, we also note the plight of the workers of the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL), who have …
Read More »Dear Editor: Trade unions must organise minimum wage workers
“[…] There are hundreds of thousands of workers in the service sector, retail stores, fast food joints, the hospitality sector and the private security sector who are not unionised and have no tradition of organised struggle. This has resulted in workers being super-exploited, with atrocious industrial relations practices becoming the …
Read More »NWU: The one percent, with govt’s help, is eroding protection of Industrial Court; time to fight back
“The one percent has, it seems, taken full control of the industrial relations policy of the government. This is not surprising because these mark-up merchants are the ones who finance the leading political parties and, as is well known, he who pays the piper calls the tune. “The government has …
Read More »Vidale: How legislation preserved Plantation society’s status quo; why emancipation hinges on labour struggle
In the first part of this discourse I attempted to argue that Emancipation as an event failed to meet the expectations of the African who were freed. But more than that, I posit that a concerted effort was made to ensure that changes to the essence of the society’s power …
Read More »Gilkes: Message to the Barbergreen; the continuing struggle for emancipation
Despite my shameless semi-appropriation of Malcolm X’s “Message to the Grassroots,” this in no way suggests that I place myself close to the same league of this giant ancestor. This is just my paltry message to those in my country, particularly those who live where there isn’t much grass, far …
Read More »Master’s Voice: Black labour pains: By the sweat of MY brow; thou shalt eat bread
“I have […] great doubts whether the Cooly and the African are morally and mentally capable of being acted upon by the same motives in this island on their first arrival as labourers are in more civilised countries… “The only independence which they would desire is idleness, according to their …
Read More »Dear Editor: Open Letter to Sean Hadeed; NWU accuses Francis Fashions of violating international labour laws
“Article 3.1 [of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention]: ‘For the purposes of this Convention the term forced or compulsory labour shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily’. …
Read More »NWU blasts Francis Fashions for allegedly sacking 25 workers after four months without overtime pay
“On Monday 5 March, workers informed their supervisor that they wanted to leave at the stipulated knock-off time—which is their right—and were told that they could do what they wanted. “On Tuesday 6 March, when workers reported for work, they were prevented from entering the compound and were, in fact, …
Read More »Dear Editor: Why RBC’s High Court win over BIGWU is a hammer blow for local Unions
“The requirement to keep trade union membership or non-membership confidential is well established as a means of avoiding victimisation of union members. “[…] This judgement argued that, in this case, there were ‘exceptional circumstances to warrant the order for disclosure as requested [by the RBC] and such an order would …
Read More »Master’s Voice: The re-colonisation calls of Bruce Gilley and our paralysis of analysis
Let me say, straight out the box, I have no issue with Professor Bruce Gilley for the same reason I was pleased that Donald Trump won the US elections. I see the storm brewing online and the many calls for retraction, apologies and so on. Reaction was swift, as was …
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