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  • 7 months ago
During the Election Campaigning of the United National Congress, Public Servants were promised no less than a 10 percent wage increase.

During the swearing in of her Cabinet, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced that her government will have to look into what is available in the Treasury, to see what could be spent.

The Former PNM-Administration had indicated that the country could not afford such a spend, which it said could cost around 18 billion dollars at the higher end.

Joining us live to weigh in on this is, President of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union and General Secretary of the National Trade Union Centre Michael Annisette.
Transcript
00:00During the election campaigning of the United National Congress, public servants were promised no less than a 10% wage increase.
00:09All during the swearing-in of her cabinet, Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bassassar announced that her government will have to look into what is available in the Treasury to see what can be spent.
00:19The former PNM administration had indicated that the country could not afford such a spend, which it said could cost around $18 billion at the higher end.
00:30So joining us live tonight, to weigh in on this is President of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union and General Secretary of the National Trade Union Center, Michael Anisat.
00:40Good evening, Mr. Anisat, and thank you for joining us.
00:43My pleasure.
00:47Mr. Anisat, what are your initial thoughts on the Prime Minister's statement regarding the Treasury?
00:54Well, that is expected. That is economic prudence.
01:00One must look at the Treasury. It doesn't mean what is in the Treasury, so you can map a plan to suit the proposals that you would have made.
01:11All right? Because looking at the Treasury doesn't necessarily mean that you have 10% of it is not on the paper.
01:21It's an economic reality that one must do, and it is economic prudence.
01:28So do you think workers are expecting a quick fix, or are they willing to wait a while to get the increases?
01:34Well, under the PNM regime, we have been more than 10 years for wage increases, and one must understand that the port workers, we have been waiting from since 2015 for the government to implement a wage increase that was signed.
01:54And NIB, same situation, 9%.
01:59So to wait a few more days or a few more months in order to materialize that overdue salary and wage increases, it's not an issue as far as I am concerned on the workers in Trinidad and Tobago.
02:15So workers at the Port of Spain, they rejected the PNM's 4% offer, and the previous agreement under the People's Partnership for those workers was 12%.
02:26What are you expecting from this new UNC government?
02:31No, well, then, the 12% for the workers was a legitimate negotiated mechanism.
02:40The agreement was acquiesced between the parties and sign-off, the minister, then minister, minister, KDC, permanent sec.
02:50We signed off at the Hyatt Hotel, we had Tonghorn meetings with stakeholders, and I'm there for, one expects that that agreement will be honored by this UNC government, and there are intimations that it will be honored, both NIB and the port workers.
03:09But we have another issue on the port, which I want to put in the public domain, because of this government insensitive, and we can refuse to implement the 12% with all the operational changes, and the cutting of armgowns, and all the other things that we have done to increase efficiency and productivity.
03:30All right, and more importantly, the five and seven, that the business community was demanded.
03:39All that was part of the agreement, it was not a 12% separate, it was what I will want to call an interest negotiation, in order to put the port in a place where the port should have been, as I'm talking to you.
03:54But this government, due to the insensitivity, and the attempt of marginalizing...
04:00Which government? Which government, exactly?
04:03The PNM government. The PNM government. I want to make that clear, because it was signed, and the PNM government refused to implement it, because they said that the CPU did not approve it.
04:14But suffice it to say, the very safe government, went and signed with senior management, and the estate police, without the CPU approval.
04:23So it raises the question, in Doc Wilco's mind, we are not foolish, as they want us to believe that Doc Wilco's, you know, we are foolish.
04:33We have 20 cents. We see the attempt to undermine this agreement as an attempt to make the port fall down, so that they can go to the private sector partners, in order to sell our resources.
04:50So what are your thoughts on any eventualities that this government cannot afford to offer the 10% public servants, as promised?
05:01Well, I have grown up in a science and a spirituality where we think positive.
05:08There is no... There are so many other mechanisms that can use to generate monies in Trinidad, and Tobago, that all you have to do is to be innovative economically, and will be able to reach that place that is necessary.
05:29We cannot continue with the greatest respect, as a society, where you don't have this injustice of inequality in wealth, inequality in income, inequality in household income.
05:45So, that is a social prescription that we are experiencing now in Trinidad and Tobago, and no government, no government can justify that, after 10 years, paying 0-0-2, 0-0-2.
06:00You know what are the implications of UMDA?
06:04That is about pensioners who live on fixed pension, not like Dr. Rowdy, who fixed the pension, right, that would not get pension.
06:14Is that the kind of society that we want to build for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago?
06:20We say no in Atopi.
06:21We say no in Atopi.
06:22We say no in the WTU.
06:23We say no in the labor movement.
06:24We say no in the labor movement.
06:25There must be equity and equality.
06:26And I want to put on the table, there is a new economic model that is supported by brilliant economists and by the ILO.
06:39It has been proven that where you have drug-led growth and wage-led growth, your society prosper much more than the trickle down economy policy that the former prime minister was pushing on the back of the workers and public servants in Trinidad and Tobago.
07:02And in the very same society, the private sector was 9% average over that same three-year period, right?
07:15Just for three-year period, and then they went to seven, and I'm six, which makes it 70 percentage points increasing over the six-year period.
07:25We say, according to the government of Trinidad and Tobago, but the government, who stagnated in which she came in 2020, was telling you that you must accept twin and the opposite of the six-year period.
07:42And our workers rejected, I supported it, because that is unfair, is a level of inequity, is a level of insensitivity, it is undemocratic, and it is an interference with the collective bargaining process that we must not allow any government to allow to behave in that arrogant, and I call it irreversible, arrogant way, that that former PNM government would have demonstrated.
08:11Ms. Stan, you touched on something earlier.
08:13Finally, before we go, do you have any suggestions on the creation of new streams of revenue pertaining to the institutions where you represent workers under both the SWWTU and NAPTUC?
08:23All right.
08:24All right.
08:25The first thing that I would want to recommend is that we do what you call negotiations to settle all outstanding negotiations.
08:35That's a must.
08:37The second thing that I want to recommend is that we have a good opportunity to increase our maritime sector in Trinidad and Tobago.
08:47And why I'm saying that is because under the hurricane, we have the ability to bring forests as far as that is concerned.
08:57We have an opportunity to merge with Point Lisa's to have whatever for a good logistic market where Trinidad, where we are located in the sea lane, because we have to go south-south now and we are ideally located to do that.
09:20We can't develop tourism because we have to develop within the region to feed ourselves.
09:30There are so many measures that, but more importantly, we have to empower communities, one, and we have to allow the trade union movement to be involved.
09:43The development of Trinidad and Tobago in a meaningful way must not be isolated just the elites, the business community and the government.
09:55The labor movement amongst communities and workers must be part of this development.
10:02We must have the tripartism, must have the discussion necessary for Trinidad and Tobago to move forward.
10:10Well, thank you very much, Mr. Anisad, for sharing your thoughts on this particular matter.
10:15My pleasure is always.
10:17My pleasure is always.
10:18My pleasure is always.
10:20You know me after.
10:23Well, have a good evening.
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