00:00The recent approval of the Salaries Review Commission's report by the Cabinet has further
00:05inflamed sentiments within the labour movement, with many union leaders calling the decision
00:10unacceptable and out of touch with the realities facing workers.
00:15The Communications Workers' Union is the latest to add its voice to the Prime Minister's
00:18announcement last Thursday.
00:20Via media release, the union said, quote, in what appears to be a last-gasp attempt
00:25by the entitled elite to maintain its share of our country's coffers, the vulgar salary
00:30adjustments, along with the worsening foreign debt, have set the stage for a massive flight
00:35of capital-unexposed political bandits, with accountability relegated to being a so-called
00:42dirty word, end quote.
00:44Meanwhile, Michael Arnisat, President of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers' Union, and
00:49the General Secretary of NATOC, described the move as one without common sense.
00:54Where is the justification, where is the common sense, and where is the understanding that
01:02you do not build a society on the basis of inequality and inequity?
01:09Mr Arnisat said, quote, workers are up in arms over the government's decision to accept
01:14the latest recommendations of the Salaries Review Commission after a 13-year wait, while
01:20they have not received an increase for the past 12 years.
01:24They feel betrayed by the decision of the cabinet, and there are several questions that
01:35was raised.
01:36And quite rightly so.
01:37How are we being asked, as workers, who are the productive force, because the port is
01:45a productive force, because what we produce helps the GDP of the economy, one?
01:51And how are we asked to burn our bellies until 2027, and the prime minister comes now and
01:58say that he's accepting a recommendation, all right, and then he's not concerned about
02:06the right and the wrong of the recommendation.
02:10The SWWTU president gave an update on last Friday's meeting with the Port Authority.
02:16We had put on the table two proposals for the port consideration, which we believe that
02:24in the interest of productivity and really transforming the port, it is a requirement
02:31that the port must seriously look at.
02:33We await the Port Authority to get back to us.
02:38They would have asked time to go and do the analysis and their projections, so that they
02:45can engage us thereafter.
02:49So we are waiting with optimism.
02:54Akshaya Galstani, TV6 News.
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