The Opposition Leader and some of her MPs were part of a protest of former CEPEP workers, not far from the Red House in Port of Spain.
The Opposition said it has already begun its legal battle on behalf of the those now without an income due to the non-renewal of contracts for CEPEP contractors.
00:00After having attended the Joint Assembly of the Parliament for the visit by the Prime Minister of India,
00:06the opposition leader of Trinidad and Tobago and some of her MPs were observed with a group of workers
00:11affected by the recent non-renewal of contracts with CPEP contractors.
00:17TV6 News spoke with opposition leader Penelope Beckles, who said the attorneys in her party, herself included,
00:23are providing free legal services to the affected CPEP workers and contractors.
00:28This is July month. This is the month when, you know, you're expecting to buy books, buy shoes, buy clothes.
00:36And a lot of the people here are single mothers.
00:38So, I mean, this speech that was given by the Honourable Prime Minister,
00:41and today she spoke about love and love, you know, how much she loved the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
00:46This is not love. This is abuse.
00:47And the fact is, we are coming together with the workers.
00:50We are going to take the matters to court and we're going to do our best to protect the rights of the CPEP workers and the CPEP contractors.
00:58TV6 News sought to find out if the opposition can file anything close to what is known as a class action lawsuit in the U.S.,
01:05given that the opposition has said thousands of workers in the state sector, not only from CPEP, have lost their jobs in the last seven weeks.
01:14Opposition MP and attorney at law Kareem Marcel responded.
01:17So, why is this not a, wouldn't be considered a class action?
01:22We are, the first thing that we have done, we have, we have filed a substantive claim for breach of contract in the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago
01:31against the CPEP Company Limited yesterday.
01:35We have also, we also filed a notice of application for injunctive relief that was served on the CPEP Company Limited.
01:43And with regard to certain claims by members of the new cabinet about certain CPEP contracts during a past PNM administration.
01:50It's public knowledge. I mean, my father had a CPEP contract in 2002 when the government changed.
01:56Of course, the UNC came into office yesterday. Like many other persons, they took away the contract.
02:01But they are now putting it out in the public domain that he has five CPEP contracts.
02:05My father is still alive. My father died more than 10 years ago.
02:09Right, and it's deliberate. And they also made the same comments about my colleague's father here from, and Randall Mitchell.
02:15The opposition has reputed claims by the new UNC-led government that during past administrations led by the PNM, there were issues of serious concern with CPEP.
02:25So the point is that they are also targeting MPs, and they are putting it out in the public domain as though, I mean, that something wrong was done.
02:34The truth is, like everybody else, I mean, they would have applied and they would have been successful.
02:40But, I mean, as I said, that since more than 15 years ago, there's no contract.
02:47After having spoken with the media, the opposition leader and her MPs led the CPEP protesters from in front of City Hall to form a circle in front of the eastern side of the Hall of Justice for a prayer.
02:59They did so under the watch of police officers dressed in riot gear, as there was a heavy police presence in the area after the conclusion of the Joint Assembly of Parliament.
03:07When TV6 News left the scene of the protest, it had ended peacefully.
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