What’s next for the workers of Petrotrin?
This was the question raised by two former energy ministers as Petrotrin was officially closed yesterday.
Kevin Ramnarine, who served as a minister under the People’s Partnership from June 2011 until that administration left office in 2015, said he had been contacted by numerous employees of the state-owned oil company since the announcement of the closure was made.
Ramnarine said most who reached out had little idea of where to go next.
“Many of them are relatively young people in their 30s and 40s who will now be facing a very tight job market. I could tell you that jobs are very hard to find in the energy sector today in places like Point Lisas, in places like Atlantic LNG and so on,” Ramnarine said.
He said the closed refinery represented a very sad day for the country.
“It’s a very sad day for Trinidad and Tobago and for the workers of Petrotrin, the people of South Trinidad and the affected communities,” said Ramnarine.
“I drove past the refinery and it was almost a surreal experience to see the flares, all the flares extinguished.”
His sentiments were shared by another former energy minister, his predecessor in the Partnership administration, Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, who also asked where in the job market the retrenched workers would land.
“We have not dealt with the issue of how these 5,500 people are going to be reabsorbed. Where are these people going to be employed?” Seepersad-Bachan said on CNC3’s Morning Brew programme yesterday.
Seepersad-Bachan also felt with Trinidad and Tobago’s exit from the business, the country had lost its leadership position in terms of trade within Caricom.
“By shutting the refinery we would lose that premium market called Caricom. We have returned to producing our raw material and seeing some other countries reap value for it,” Seepersad-Bachan said.
She also raised questions about the pension and medical plans for workers, as she argued that without Petrotrin in operation, workers would no longer be able to properly access their benefits.
Earlier this week, Petrotrin issued a statement saying that they were in negotiations with Republic Bank to resolve issues surrounding the pension plan. Those issues are said to be close to an amicable resolution.