Planning and the Environment Minister Bhoendradatt Tewarie is optimistic that Tuesday's labour talks between the Government and the labour movement will be successful. In an interview yesterday, Tewarie was confident the talks would go someway to achieving a resolution to the labour impasse. Trade unions in the National Trade Union Centre of T&T (Natuc) have threatened a national strike if the Government failed to meet seven of its demands, including the removal of the five per cent cap for wages in a new collective agreements. Up to yesterday, some trade union leaders were insisting the strike would be implemented.
Tewarie is insisting such action will not be in the best interest of the national economy. He said despite the public discussion, "we should just leave it at that until the meeting on Tuesday." He said the Government was committed to managing the economy and ensuring there was fiscal balance. He added: "We are struggling to achieve two per cent growth this year; we are hoping for three per cent growth next year. "We know what the realities are in the region and in the world. "I think we should be wise about how we manage the present to secure positive prospects for the future." He said at least two very successful countries had collapsed within the last two years.
Tewarie said there must be economic confidence and industrial peace in T&T. He said there must be local and international investments. "We also want a climate of collaboration rather than one of contention, in which we are engaged together in purposeful endeavour," he added. Tewarie said those requirements "are all connected and required to make progress for the country." He added: "We should pay some attention to these things because as a nation, we are all in it together." Tewarie said the resources of the State would be divided among the entire population. "There is a limited revenue base from which the State can draw and all of this belongs to the citizenry of T&T," he added.