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  • 1 year ago
The Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union has garnered support for Port of Spain dock workers at the Congress of the International Transport Workers' Federation in Morocco.
It comes as President of the Trade Union Michael Annisette labels a meeting between the SWWTU and Port Authority last week as "unsatisfactory." He promises to take further action.
Alicia Boucher has more in this report.
Transcript
00:00Voices of youth workers participating in the 46th Congress of the International Transport
00:10Workers' Federation in Morocco echoing in unison in an expression of solidarity for
00:16workers at the Port of Spain who are engaged in ongoing industrial action.
00:22President of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers' Trade Union Michael Anassat says he raised
00:27the issues affecting the workers at the event, and a media release dated October 20th was
00:32sent out under the National Trade Union Center calling for international solidarity.
00:38It highlighted the use of military personnel at the port, a measure taken by the Port Authority
00:43to address a labor shortage due to the protest action, health and safety concerns, and what
00:49it refers to as violation of the collective bargaining agreements.
00:54Anassat, who is set to return from Morocco on Monday, tells TV6 News what was done at
00:59the ITF is only the beginning of taking the plight of port workers internationally.
01:04We will continue to look at every means and every measure that is open to us to make this
01:14an issue on the international, local and regional landscape.
01:22The SWWTU and the Port Authority met recently.
01:27But the meeting was not satisfactory.
01:31While there has been commitments that were made, the fundamental issue of the health
01:38and safety issues, the issue of the wages that the port admitted that it did agree with
01:45the union is still up in the air, given the fact that the government, through the Minister
01:53of Works and Transport, would have mandated the Port Authority to offer a 2% wage increase.
02:02That's for the period 2014 to 2017, where a 12% wage increase was initially agreed to.
02:09The government makes a decision that they're not going to pay that because the UNC would
02:14have done that agreement for votes purposes.
02:20Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan has said it is a matter at the level of the
02:24chief personnel officer.
02:26Well, Anassat signals that the union is not letting the matter rest, calling what is transpiring
02:32insulting and disrespectful and against good industrial relations.
02:39We are going to plan several events because I have called on the dockworkers to stand strong.
02:47The SWWTU also accuses the Port Authority of taking decisions to alter the benefits
02:53and the promotion of some workers without consulting the union.
02:58He is of the view that the International Labour Organization Convention and the Industrial
03:03Relations Act, which address how collective bargaining is to be approached, are being
03:08breached.
03:09We're reaching a stage where somebody has to bell the cat, and if it's Seamen and Waterfront
03:15Workers Trade Union and by extension the dockworkers, so be it, because we are prepared to take
03:22on the government and the Port Authority.
03:26Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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