Trade unionists from across the country began their first leg of mobilisation yesterday ahead of a threatened national day of strike. The threat came after a breakdown in their talks with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Tuesday. As early as 6.30 am, the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union, Communication Workers Trade Union, Contract and General Workers Trade Union (CGWTU), Steel Workers Union, the National Union of Government and Federated Workers, as well as ousted members of the Public Services Association, joined with protesting Port-of-Spain City Corporation workers to highlight poor working conditions. President general of OWTU, Ancel Roget, said the solidarity gathering marked the start of an aggressive campaign to follow through with the Prime Minister's remark to "go ahead and shut down the country." He also said the trade union movement would counter any move the Prime Minister made to prevent the anticipated day of shutdown. "There will be a lot of conscious-building, long before we have that day of strike," Roget said, warning citizens to brace for electrical power cuts and water stoppages. He also accused Government of giving instructions to tap the phones of several trade union leaders, adding: "We know how to get around that issue. We will talk in a language they will not understand. Long before there were cellphones, there were successful struggles in the 1930s."
Roget added: "They have a plan with the Industrial Court regarding injunctions but we have a plan for that. They have lawyers and arrogant ministers. "They have their arrogance on their side but we have on our side the workers of T&T. We are not going to 'wine to the side'. The Partnership will have to 'wine to the side' when the time comes." Saying that the Partnership was a Government of deception, Roget vowed: "We are going to ramp up the campaign and go to various communities. People of T&T will have to make a sacrifice. "There will come a time when the people of T&T will have no lights and no water. They must know what that sacrifice is about. They must show support for what we are going to do." He said at the end of the day, it was not just a wage issue but an issue of principle. Meanwhile, ousted deputy general secretary of the PSA, Rendy Bedassie, said many PSA workers would stand with the trade union movement in the day of struggle. General secretary of the CGWTU, Ermine Te-Bique, also criticised Persad-Bissessar for her call to begin wage negotiations from ground zero. Saying that Persad-Bissessar did not understand the implications of her statement, Te-Bique said workers at the city corporation also would work at ground zero so sanitation and infrastructure maintenance would be affected.