Several workers ignored the advice of Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget and collected their termination letters at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre compound over the weekend.
When Guardian Media spoke with a few of the workers who collected their letters and severance packages they had mixed reactions of fear, worry, sadness, anger and relief.
The move by the company to distribute the letters ahead of Monday’s expected ruling by the Industrial Court on the OWTU’s injunction to halt the retrenchment was met with strong condemnation by Roget and Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar. They both accused the company of contempt of court.
During a rally on the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain, last Friday, Roget advised workers not to collect their letters after he got word that the company had accelerated the distribution of letters.
An OWTU member who spoke with Guardian Media said, “The workers are sad, hurt and frighten. Some of them are not happy with what they got.”
Another worker, who collected her letter at the company’s Learning Resource Centre, was angry with the media for “publishing lies.”
She said she was forced to defend her job in the face of harsh criticism by members of the public. She also felt hurt and ashamed in the way in which the company handled the situation.
Another worker said she was satisfied with her termination package which was in keeping with the severance agreement.
“I was ready for this. Some of my friends were not happy with theirs. Even if you worked with the company for years, if you are not permanent you will not get the full amount of money. I will reapply and if I don’t get through I will just move on.”
Another worker said he was worried about how he will maintain his family if he is not rehired.
“Things real hard, I have a lot of commitments. Jobs hard to get now, especially at my age.”
According to an internal memo from the Corporate Communications Department workers from the corporate communications, internal audit, land management, finance, medical, engineering services, planning and business support, performance improvement and refinery scheduling were supposed to collect their letters on Saturday. Workers from supply chain management and other departments were expected to have received their letters yesterday.