The Energy Chamber says current legal wrangling at the Industrial Court and the Appeal Court over the imminent closure of the Petrotrin oil refinery and the injunction preventing TSTT from consolidating its residential fibre optic cable business highlights the need for serious reform of T&T’s industrial relations legislative framework.
In a statement on Friday, the Chamber said it has been working closely with other major chambers and associations on a new approach to industrial relations based on respect and a collaborative approach for a mutually beneficial outcome rather than "the out-dated adversarial system."
Noting that the injunction on Petrotrin was overturned by the Appeal Court after considering the serious wider economic implications of not closing the refinery, the Chamber said: "This failure to take the wider implications of its decisions into account is a common criticism of the Industrial Court. We have seen numerous cases where Industrial Court decisions can be said on the face of the judgment to have been taken without apparent consideration of the impact on the company and the economy.
"Ironically these decisions are usually not in the long-term interest of the very workers whose “rights” the Industrial Court sought to protect: the ArcelorMittal case obviously springs to mind.
"The need for wider reform of the industrial relations legislation and the role of the Industrial Court is clear."
Commenting on the upcoming T&To Energy Conference 2019, which has as its theme Technology: transforming the industry, the Chamber said one of the major challenges facing companies in the energy sector is adapting to the rapid changes in technology that are already taking place.
"We need a flexible and responsive labour market, a modern education and training system and a supportive industrial relations climate if our companies and our employees are going to be able to change and adapt to take advantage of new opportunities. An adversarial industrial relations climate created by our legislation and the attitude of key powerful institutions prevents companies from being able to quickly adapt and prosper.
"In this rapidly changing global environment attempts to protect the status quo for its own sake must not be allowed to jeopardise the long-term future of our country."
The Chamber called for urgent reform of industrial relations legislation and transformation of its enforcing legislature.
"The time for talk is passed we need urgent action to move us forward as a country," the group said.