00:00Government is seeking to swiftly reverse what it calls a historical wrong,
00:04accusing the previous People's National Movement administration of weaponizing
00:09corporate restructuring to systematically dismantle trade union power. So says Minister
00:15of Labor Leroy Batiste in piloting the miscellaneous provisions Heritage Petroleum
00:20Paria Fuel Trading and Guaracara Refining Vesting Amendment Bill 2026 in the Senate.
00:26The piece of legislation cites the three companies as the successors of Petrotrin
00:32and further proposes that all existing collective agreements, which Petrotrin was party to prior to
00:38the designated restructuring day, remain active and legally binding. Added to that is closed too.
00:46The bill further provides that the amendment shall be deemed to come into force on December 1st,
00:532018, thereby ensuring continuity from the commencement of the vesting arrangements.
01:00Batiste says enshrined in international labor laws is the principle of successorship and at the heart
01:06of that is a fundamental proposition. Workers should not lose their hard-earned collective
01:13bargaining rights merely because the legal identity of their employer changes.
01:20A change in corporate structure must not become a mechanism for extinguishing trade union
01:28representation, avoiding collective agreements or undermining decades of collective bargaining
01:35achievements. Opposition Senator Farris El-Araoui indicating his party's willingness to support the
01:41bill but outlining that there was no previous knowledge of the legislation nor the debate on it.
01:47His concern, the retroactive clause, given the vested interest in the refinery by Patriotic
01:53Energies, which is owned by the oilfields workers trade union.
01:57We need to be careful that what we're doing today by a retroactive interpretation and application of
02:03the law doesn't present any difficulties to the prospective entity that is going to buy or release
02:12or have assigned or have participation in its procurement cycles.
02:17It raises in his mind the possibility of a conflict of interest, potentially leading to a detriment,
02:24which he says would require a three-fifths and not a simple majority for the bill's passage.
02:29According to El-Araoui, a court of appeal ruling involving Caribbean Airlines already outlines the
02:35continuation of existing collective bargaining arrangements under successorship.
02:39So this jeopardy that the Honourable Member has set up, saying that there was a huge hole that was
02:45left and not dealt with, that in fact, Mr. President, is taken care of and addressed by the law itself.
02:52The three-close bill was taken in committee stage and approved with amendment, recognizing the
02:58OWTU as the majority union representing workers of Heritage, Paria and Guaracara, as well as tying the
03:05appointed day directly to the exact definition in the original 2018 Vesting Act. By doing this,
03:12December 1st, 2018 was locked in to prevent any gray areas pertaining to the transitional period.
03:19As for the divisional vote, 21 members voted for the bill. No member voted against the bill.
03:32And there were nine abstentions. The abstentions came from the opposition bench. The bill was passed
03:40in the Senate and will now go to the lower house. Members of the OWTU were present in the Parliament's
03:46public gallery for the sitting. Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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