00:00It's a second day of action by the Postal Workers Union in an attempt to highlight its
00:06members' frustration relative to outstanding negotiations and an outstanding job evaluation.
00:13On Thursday, they walked from Arima to El Dorado, and today, they made their way to
00:18the Ministry of Public Utilities.
00:20There are a number of concerns we have in high-risk areas in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:24We know the crime situation, and we have been trying to address a number of those concerns
00:29in terms of PPE, etc., but our main focus here this morning is really on the heels of
00:36our concern of the implementation of the job evaluation.
00:39We have noted that the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Seales, would have responded
00:46via the media yesterday evening to indicate that we are going to have discussions on the
00:502nd of December.
00:51We have not had any official communication.
00:53However, what we are seeing as to our correspondence that we would have responded to when they
00:59got the guidelines from the Ministry of Public Utilities is that we have not seen addressed
01:03in that document from them the issue of the job evaluation.
01:07It's being called Blackout Friday, with Tobago postal workers also expressing solidarity
01:13by picketing outside the post office.
01:16Mr. Forbes says it appears that workers across sectors are being frustrated by the powers
01:22that be.
01:23We want to also express our continued solidarity for the workers on the port, and to let them
01:28know that we stand very much behind them, in this issue that is going on on the port,
01:34and it's only fair, as we said earlier, under the powers that we understand that workers
01:38in this country have been turning the wheels of this economy, and therefore it is only
01:44prudence that in good management of a country that the workers share in the wealth.
01:50It was stressed by one media worker that TNTEC's action was not supported by the union.
01:56Aussie Warwick, Secretary of the Joint Trade Union Movement, responded.
02:02Every worker in this country have a right to process and peacefully picket the employer.
02:08The TNTEC workers have been engaged in this struggle and in this campaign for some time
02:15where they have peacefully picketed outside of their working hours, before work, during
02:21the lunch period, and after work.
02:24This would have expanded to a peaceful picket outside one of the residence of the public
02:29utilities minister just about two Fridays ago.
02:34And of course, that has the complete support of the union.
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