“[…] So, in the opinion of those who signed the [Cabinet sub-committee report on WASA operations]—all of whom are politicians—the problem is WASA’s executives who are not held to account. “So who should hold the executives to account?” The following Letter to the Editor on a Cabinet sub-committee report into …
Read More »Dear Editor: It’s illegal, under OSHA, to force employees to pay for PCR tests
“Many employers are trying to force workers who have not been vaccinated to take a PCR test… Of course, the expectation is that workers will pay for this—and at anything up to $1,400 a test, it is hardly worth going to work. “You’re not going to work to pay the …
Read More »MJS: ‘Stupid bordering on wicked’ for employers to bully or victimise non-vaccinated workers
“[…] It is also a false premise by employers to believe that vaccinated workers pose no risk to others, be they co-workers or the customers. The fact is that a vaccinated person, while less likely, can still get Covid. “They can also transmit it to others, though again they are …
Read More »Union: How is Royal Castle providing food without workers? Fast-food chain gets 24 hours to explain
“[…] If in fact [Royal Castle] has proceeded with procuring alternative means to provide its food to the public while bypassing its workers and their union, these would constitute serious breaches of the collective agreement and violations of the law. “These could include illegally outsourcing or subcontracting labour, failing to …
Read More »Demming: The real-life drama between trade unions and the government
We ‘love up’ on Tuesday night and on Wednesday, you tell the world that you are no longer in a relationship with me. That is a description of the real-life drama that unfolded as the leaders of the trade union federations exited the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC). It is …
Read More »Dear Editor: Government spinning Anansi stories to suppress workers’ wages
“[…] Minister Imbert has […] set the stage for entrenching the austerity programme the IMF has long been advising: privatisation, deregulation, the reduction of the public sector, wage suppression. “This austerity, of course, involves the weakening of the trade unions through the hiving off of the health sector, a de …
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 »NJAC Rededication: How the People’s Revolution defied the gov’t and transformed the T&T economy
“[…] The role of the masses is also seen in their response to NJAC’s call for the transformation of the Trinidad and Tobago economy […] where for the first time Africans and Indians began to set up businesses right across the nation, which they also supported to guarantee their success. …
Read More »Dear Editor: Who cares about domestic workers? Certainly not our governments
“[…] In Trinidad and Tobago, domestic workers include: housekeepers, cooks, cleaners, ironers, gardeners, handymen, watchmen, in private homes. They are hired by companies for their CEOs and others who are in high management positions to provide personal and household duties. Estimates indicate that there are 10,000 domestic workers in T&T. …
Read More »Dear Editor: Imbert sees unions in disarray, now he’s going for the jugular of the working class
“[…] The media cites Minister of Finance Colm Imbert as saying that public sector trade unions won’t be able to meet with the government around the bargaining table because of the state of the economy. No time frame is given. “This immediately affects those public sector workers who are near …
Read More »Dear Editor: Indiscipline begins at the top, PM shouldn’t ‘pick on’ public servants
“[…] The late Gordon Draper, MP for Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West was given leave of absence for almost an entire Parliamentary term to pursue private business. MP Maxie Cuffie fell ill early in his Parliamentary term, was hospitalised for much of it, and suffered no loss of income. …
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 …
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