Vowing to shut down the Petrotrin oil refinery and producing fields, Oilfields Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancil Roget said yesterday that workers intend to make "more mas" this Carnival as they embark on an official strike action. Speaking briefly with the media at his OWTU Paramount Building, San Fernando office, Roget said it is "time for action." "We will see a lot more mas in the Carnival than we normally get for the year and that could be attributed to the fact that we do not have a functioning Pointe-a-Pierre refinery and producing fields," he said.
Tomorrow at 8 am Roget, together with workers, will gather at the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery roundabout where they will formally deliver their official strike notice to Petrotrin management. Roget, in his message to the public, said, "We think that the public will be adversely affected. We want to empathise with the public but at the same time we are the ones who risk our lives and our limbs to produce revenue and a product for the motoring public's consumption therefore it is our view that we ought to be treated with a high level of dignity and respect."
The union, he said, always had the approach and effort to resolve outstanding wage issues. Last Friday, conciliatory talks between Petrotrin and the OWTU at the Ministry of Labour broke down and with it came the union's resounding vow to embark on a national strike. In a statement late Friday, Petrotrin said that bilateral agreement had been reached on over 75 per cent of the key items in the five different collective agreements, covering the period 2008 to 2012.
Officials at the State-owned oil company said that among the proposals were a general increase in wages and a much enhanced housing allowance. "The total package being offered by the company would take its employees further ahead of other workers in the labour market," said Petrotrin, adding that it regretted that Friday's talks broke down. "We are not apologising for asking and demanding what is rightly ours, we make no apologises for that. We insist that adjustments (to workers' salaries) be made," Roget declared. He said at present no shortage of gas exists, but he predicted that the Government will set out on an aggressive public relations campaign "to avoid panic buying and seek to give the public the impression that there is enough fuel to run the entire period. That could not be further from the truth."
He said Petrotrin realised $2.2 billion in profits last year through workers' efforts and they should be given "just" and "decent" dues. Roget said already workers are experiencing low levels of productivity as they move towards embarking on protest action. "Workers are fed up. They are disgusted. They are angry," he said.
Roget added that Trinidad Cement Ltd workers are also moving to serve official notice of strike action after their conciliatory talks broke down. He said: "Workers will not accept five per cent in no way, form or fashion."