At least two Petrotrin employees have received over $4 million as part of their severance packages, as close to 2,000 workers have already accepted deals from the company.
Just one day after the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) injunction was overturned in the Court of Appeal, the management resumed handing out severance bundles to workers. Guardian Media was told that some 1,800 people have already accepted their severance packages, including a large number of union members.
When the Industrial Court granted the OWTU’s injunction, some 300 non-unionised workers had accepted severance as the union members were protected by the court decision. However, once that was vacated by the Appeal Court on Wednesday night, Petrotrin immediately resumed sending workers home. The Appeal Court lifted the injunction for one week.
Just before midnight on Thursday, Justice of Appeal Charmaine Pemberton blocked the injunction awarded by the Industrial Court and fixed the hearing to resume before a three-member panel of the Appeal Court for October 18.
Last Tuesday, the Industrial Court had granted an injunction to the OWTU prohibiting Petrotrin from moving ahead with the termination timetable before the court heard an industrial relations matter the union had raised against the ailing state oil company. Petrotrin had already handed out close to 500 termination letters to workers last weekend ahead of the injunction, but those were rendered void pending the outcome of the appeal yesterday.
A senior executive with knowledge of the terminations at Petrotrin said top managers would walk away with over $2 million, middle managers would take home some $724,500 while others would get $411, 900 to go home.
Although OWTU president general Ancel Roget had asked the union members to refuse the severance packages until after October 18, hundreds of union members accepted them.
Yesterday, on the Morning Brew on CNC3, head of transitions, Lisa Ali, gave the timeline of the shut down of the operations and start-up of the new petroleum entity.
The union did not respond to questions from Guardian Media about the amount of members who had accepted the severance packages but issued a media statement condemning Ali.
The OWTU said that Ali was “destroying the local oil industry”. The union’s main grouse is that the matter is still before the Appeal Court and as such the company should not be talking about the timelines for roll out of the new organisation. The union called this “disrespectful”.
“As far as we are aware, she is not an employee, so who gave her authority to speak on behalf of Petrotrin?” the OWTU asked.
“The issue of the industrial relations offence is still before the Industrial Court, while the injunction against the terminations is before the Court of Appeal. Please note that the injunction was only stayed, not removed, by the Court of Appeal.”
The OWTU said Ali’s appearance on television on behalf of Petrotrin indicated “disdain for the workers of Petrotrin.” The union maintained that closing the refinery is dragging the economy backward.