“[…] What do the employers and the one percent want? The objective is to maximise their profits by minimising their labour costs; by demoralising their workforce through retrenchment, wage suppression and the cutting back of hard-won benefits. “[…] Ninety percent or more of the matters that are decided in the Industrial …
Read More »Noble: I can’t breathe! Crime hogs headlines; but what about inflation?!
On 17 July 2014, Eric Garner was accused of selling loose cigarettes by a New York police officer. Daniel Pantaleo, the officer, placed him in an illegal chokehold while arresting him. Multiple officers then piled on, pinning him to the ground. Eleven times Garner pled, “I can’t breathe!” He died …
Read More »Noble: The Opportunity gap and crime—how wealth, connections and education wall off working class children
On 30 May 2015, the then Prime Minister, Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar said: “Without education and training, you are doomed to remain at your same level. That is why my government provides so much money for educating the young people.” This high-sounding statement masks the reality of life and promotes the …
Read More »Noble: Cutting down our youth in their bloom; the murderous Fyzabad four won’t be the last
The killing of the four Fyzabad youths narrated on the soundtrack of the sad stories of their parents is depressing. These young criminals were in their early 20s. But while we scratch our collective heads, we should recall that these are not the first children involved in murders. In 1993, Prisons …
Read More »Noble: ‘The black masses win elections, but the oligarchy wins the govt’—the elites and T&T society
Gabriel Faria, the past CEO of the leading local business chamber, had an insightful interview in this week’s Business Express. He discussed the formation of a new business advocacy group. He quoted a Dr Terrence Farrell 2011 article on the need for responsible elites in our society while admitting that …
Read More »Dear Editor: Doesn’t NIB chairman’s appointment violate NIS Act? Whose side is Govt really on?
“Patrick Ferreira has been appointed chairman of the National Insurance Board [despite being] chairman of Furness Chemicals Ltd, Furness Shipping & Marketing Ltd and Furness Personnel Services Ltd [and] CEO of Furness Rentals Ltd, Furness Properties Ltd and Furness Investments Ltd. “[…] Do you think that this business tycoon is …
Read More »NJAC: Budget shows Dr Rowley has abdicated responsibility for citizens to ‘rich elites’
“[…] Lacking in creative ideas or solutions, the government has decided to accelerate the process of privatisation and free itself of responsibility for the people’s welfare, wherever it can. “In NJAC’s estimation, what needs to be understood is that with privatisation, there are certain core concepts such as trimming the …
Read More »Does $22 million cash minus Con-vunt accent equate 1% status? Live Wire considers La Horquetta ‘sou sou’ surprise
Whose hand it is boi? The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) allegedly joined a La Horquetta pyramid scheme—coined the ‘Drugs Sou Sou’—in the wee hours of this morning, in a stunning but not altogether unexpected role reversal. On Tuesday, a TTPS exercise led by Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith …
Read More »Noble: The sound of a dying democracy; the problem with Bayside party exchange
One can be forgiven for mistaking last week’s public quarrel as the harmless flaring of tempers. It is not. The sound we heard is the whimpering sound of our dying democracy. Like 1990’s guns and fiery fury, this unseemly quarrel is one more corrosive chipping away of our long-standing political …
Read More »“Stop looking at race and look at logic’! Griffith defends TTPS response to Bayside party
Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith tried to turn the table on persons critical of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s handling of a pool party in Bayside Towers, by suggesting that they were the ones with a ‘hang-up’ on race and class—and not his lawmen. On Sunday, a Bayside resident …
Read More »Deyalsingh suggests Bayside party fell outside health regulations; T&T has 102 new Covid-19 cases
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh suggested that a pool party at the Bayside Towers in Cocorite, where a group of more than five people were seen frolicking without masks, might fall outside the public health ordinance. Residents said the party-goers within the gated community, refused to disperse when advised to …
Read More »NWU: Class struggle is exploding and unrest is coming; workers must pick a side
“[…] Public sector workers, including health care workers, teachers and public servants, have not had a wage increase since 2013. They have not even had the full retroactive payments due to them and owed to them for more than six years. “The widespread use of the contract system has turned …
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