“[…] Employers, including state enterprises, […] are retrenching their workforce of both unionised and non-unionised employees and hiring labour-supply contractors, to provide low-wage workers (mostly temporary unsecured, non-benefit workers)—thereby greatly reducing their labour costs. “Many refuse to pay NIS, placing this critical retirement, sickness and injury benefit system in jeopardy. …
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 »NWU: Lock up employers who don’t pay NIS! DPP urged to investigate ‘criminality by employers’
“[…] Within recent times, several of the retrenched workers from The Myerson Company Limited have approached our Union for advice and representation. “In the process, they raised with us some concerns over their contributions to NIS—only to discover that no contributions were remitted to NIB for parts of 2018, none …
Read More »Kangalee: Why capitalism is the new slavery; and emancipation revolution remains unfinished
“[…] The very prosperity that slavery brought to British capital was to eventually make slavery redundant. The capital accumulated throughout slavery led to investments in science, technology and engineering, created the industrial revolution, brought into being productive forces based on machinery, speeded up the process of proletarianisation of the British …
Read More »NWU: Covid-19 has not changed law for employees, despite what the ‘new normalisers’ say
“[…] Over the past few months the ‘new normalisers’ have been busy ‘new normalising’ by cutting pay, cutting hours, sometimes cutting pay AND hours at the same time, dismissing workers (sorry, letting associates go) and laying off ‘associates’ with no pay and restructuring…” The following column, which urges employees 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 …
Read More »NWU: Healthcare workers ready to rumble, outstanding arrears and staff shortages create tipping point
“[…] At the San Fernando General Hospital, the nurse to patient ratio is close to one nurse to twenty-two patients and this has been made worse since the advent of the Teaching Hospital. “Now the Covid situation has further depleted staff, as some medical personnel have been assigned to the …
Read More »NWU: Heritage about to bite the dust; how gov’t put T&T’s ‘jewel’ back into foreign hands
“The assets of Heritage are in a bad way… Years of poor maintenance has taken its toll. “[…] The recent rupture of tank no 27 in Point Fortin during pressure testing and the resultant flow into surrounding areas of 600,000 gallons of water and some hydrocarbon residue, causing respiratory problems …
Read More »NWU: Fight, fight, fight! Some businessmen are using Covid-19 as cover to strip workers of rights
“[…] The NWU has one example of an employer cutting the pay of staff by 50% and then on top of that reducing hours from 40 a week down to 20. Having effectively cut pay by 75%, this employer promptly made eight workers redundant and based their severance calculations on the …
Read More »NWU: Duke detention ‘meant to intimidate and cower’ threats to ‘political elite’
“It is disturbing that the police have not made a comprehensive statement on the issue which clarifies the nature of the so-called investigation. Information in the public sphere seems to suggest that Mr [Watson] Duke is being investigated for statements made months ago and which are said to be seditious. …
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 »Francis Fashions: We had to fire them; employees “agreed” to work extra hour and then reneged
“By memorandum date January 2nd 2018, the workers were informed that they will be required to work for an extra hour from Monday to Thursday each week till further notice to clear up a backlog of containers which had been received by the company. “The workers signed acknowledging receipt of …
Read More »