President of the Public Service Association (PSA) in Trinidad Watson Duke Monday night dismissed the threat made against public workers by the Kamla Persad Bissessar administration on the eve of a nationwide strike over demands for high wages.
“This is a class war, it is the ruling class against the working class, they want to paralyse us, they want to stamp us out, but this time around we are saying that we are not afraid of the law let them use the law we will use whatever tools we have to fight against oppression,” Duke said on television.
“It will be blow for blow, punch for punch, force for force, we are not going to allow anybody to dispose us of our finances (and) walk away smiling,” Duke said.
Earlier Finance Minister Winston Dookeran told a news conference that he was making public servants aware of the provisions contained in the Industrial Relations Act that provides for fines and jail terms for embarking upon industrial action within the essential services.
Under the act, public servants could face a fine of at least TT$500 (US$83) or three months in prison.
“It is necessary to point out that Section 69 Sub section (1) of the Industrial Relations Act…identifies the categories of persons prohibited from taking industrial action,” Dookeran said, noting that the law also “specifically identifies members of the public service of Trinidad and Tobago as one of the categories also prohibited”.
He said the act also outlines penalties to be imposed on individuals and holders of offices “in their recognised association or union who …calls for industrial action to be taken or induces or persuade any person to take such action”.
Public servants have been agitating for months for a better salary increase than the five per cent which the seven-month-old administration has been offering and the PSA has called the nationwide strike for Tuesday to press home its demands on behalf of its members.
Earlier on Monday, leaders of 16 trade unions presented the Prime Minister with a letter complaining at the poor treatment her administration had been giving to the labour movement.
President of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) Ancil Rougier later told reporters that the unions had been seeking a meeting with the government to discuss a number of outstanding matters without success.
“That is the courtesy or the lack of courtesy extended to the country’s trade union leaders who represent the country’s work force. I think it is a mark of serious disrespect.
“We think it is level of disrespect displayed akin to the level of disrespect that was displayed by (former prime minister) Patrick Manning. The OWTU and the rest of the trade unions gathered here will not support that level of disrespect,” Rougier told reporters.
He warned “we will take whatever action is necessary to bring the government to realize that notwithstanding the support you believe you have, you will not have the support of the trade union movement if you do not act in the interest of the workers, first by being respectful and treating with us.
“We are crystal clear about that,” Rougier added.
Duke said that he had also received communication and support from various trade unions that they too would be participating in the demonstrations and appealed to all workers to down tools in order to send a strong message to the People’s Partnership government that sought the support of labour in the May 24 general elections last year.
But Dookeran told reporters that the salary increase being offered by the government amounted to more than the five per cent given the various incentives and other benefits that were being negotiated in the new package.
“We have done an assessment of the effective changes in the rate of remuneration while we have in fact indicated that we have offered a basic increase of five per cent our figures now suggest to us that the increase that is being proposed by the government ranges from nine per cent at the lower income to six per cent at the higher level of the service.”
Duke said that the workers would not be “protesting, but clearly what we are doing is highlighting an issue which has escaped the eyes of the government.
“The tools we are going to be used will be non violent tools, but definitely it will be tools that are going to let the government know that 29 seats (in Parliament) cannot bully 1.3 million seats in this country,” he said, adding that he is confident public workers would not feel threaten by the words of the government.
“We are prepared for anything whatsoever. They are already running scared. The Minister is running scared. It is a shame how they want to attack us, come and negotiate we want to talk,” he said.
“Five per cent is a deficit for public officers when the rate of inflation amounts to some 34 per cent over the last three years,” Duke said. (CMC)
