“[…] After my sister, who was a year older, died at age 8, I thought it might have been better to take my life. I may have. If only I knew of a way to do it. Thankfully, the Internet wasn’t a thing back then or I might have googled …
Read More »Dear Editor: Can trade unions really embrace Cuba yet ignore its vaccination practices?
“[…] What is the point, you may ask, of summarising the Cuban response to vaccination against Covid-19? “Well, let’s first look at some of the arguments against Government’s proposed policy of ‘semi-safe zones’ in the Public Sector, the expected legislation and its vaccination policy as advanced by T&T’s trade union …
Read More »Daly Bread: Confusion without conclusion; Govt’s vaccination drive is industrial relations disaster
One of my compères, who hails from the south-west peninsula and who has retained the good sense rooted in many areas of our country, was dismayed at the outset by the approach of the government when the Prime Minister declared Government’s intention to make vaccination a requirement for persons employed …
Read More »Open Bible Churches ‘encourage members to be vaccinated’, admit to split in Christian community
“[…] We believe that the Covid-19 vaccination should be an individual choice and have encouraged our church members to be vaccinated. “The views expressed by some members [within the Christian community] do not represent views shared by all or necessarily by the majority…” The following media release on Covid-19 vaccines …
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 »‘Downright dangerous!’ MSJ condemns Jacob’s explanation for use of tear gas on protesters
“[…] What is also of extreme concern was the statement made by more than one senior police officer, including by the CoP (Ag) McDonald Jacob, that the tear gas was used shortly after protesters started chanting ‘Rowley must go’. “Mr Jacob surmised that this chant could have been the precursor …
Read More »Daly Bread: Going out with a bang! AG’s fireworks ‘solution’ exacerbates the problem
Cabinet members Stuart Young, Clarence Rambharat and Marvin Gonzalez are to be commended for taking a public stand on legislation regarding the sale and use of fireworks—in disagreement with the proposed legislation with which the Attorney General is taking centre-stage. The AG has again gone out on a limb, unaccompanied …
Read More »Noble: This too shall pass—the power of hope in times of fear and despair
Growing up as a child of the ‘50s, you learned that ‘laugh and cry does live in the same house’. This piece of folk wisdom meant that after joy will come sorrow. The reverse is also true: ‘weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning’. The …
Read More »NJAC: Govt must overhaul health system, consult labour workers and implement hazard allowance
“[…] NJAC calls on the Government to urgently implement […] a special hazard allowance or similar benefit […] for all frontline workers throughout the health sector. “NJAC notes with interest, that there is already a precedent for this existing throughout the Caribbean and other parts of the world…” The following …
Read More »New PSA president urges workers to ‘reject outright’ Govt vaccination policy
New Public Services Association (PSA) president Leroy Baptiste made his first public statement today, three days after taking office, and it was a call for workers to ‘reject outright the Government’s coercive attempt to force vaccination on the citizenry’. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced on 18 December that, to …
Read More »Dear Editor: The Prime Minister should stop ‘fiddling’ and make the vaccine mandatory
There is something disturbing, and callous, about the way in which the government in general, and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in particular, can sit back and watch the dozens of citizens dying from Covid-19 on a daily basis. Thirty-one deaths in 24 hours are nothing to pat yourself on …
Read More »Dear Editor: Why must oil-rich T&T still depend on Cuba for nurses? And imagine if Sea Lots had boat party?
“[…] We have been bringing health personnel from Cuba for almost two decades. Would that money have not been better invested in training and remunerating our own? “One imagines the human body in Cuba is essentially the same as ours. They have built an exemplary health system under an economic …
Read More »