BOBIE-LEE DIXON
(bobie-lee.dixon@gaurdian.co.tt)
The T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce, addressing the unions of this country as well as the Industrial Court, says it is time for an overhaul and modernising of T&T's labour laws and industrial relations environment.
The Chamber was responding to the toing and froing between state-owned Petrotrin and the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), over the recent shut down of the refinery, where 4,700 workers are to be terminated.
Last Wednesday, Petrotrin won its appeal after Justice of Appeal Charmaine Pemberton delivered her ruling around 11.30 pm, lifting the injunction filed by the OWTU to halt the termination of workers of the company.
In its release, the Chamber said, “The 'job for life' concept no longer exists: thanks to digital transformation and technology changes of every kind, the nature and skill set required for jobs is rapidly changing, and unions too need to adapt to this reality.
“Insisting on maintaining old ways does not serve workers in the long run. Furthermore, it places them at a disadvantage in their capacity as consumers, where they are looking for cost-effective and efficient modern services. For us to enter this new world as both workers and consumers, the conversation needs to change.”
The Chamber cited three instances in its release where the 'primitive' actions of unions and Industrial Court rulings brought further damnation to workers rather than helped them.
It pointed out the win two years ago by the union from an employer for a pay increase, after threats of industrial action and the shut down of Petrotrin. It said the increase was granted even after the employer was unable to afford the previous wages in an already overstaffed operation.
The Chamber also highlighted when the OWTU told BP to take its platform and go. It said this resulted in the transfer of local job opportunities and a possible boosting of the local economy to foreign markets.
Its third observation was the Industrial Court's ruling in favour of the Steel Workers Union of T&T, which resulted in the shut down of the ArcelorMittal operations in Trinidad. The company eventually went into liquidation, being insolvent, and employees went home without severance pay.
The Chamber said these so-called winnings by unions have over the years placed employees in further deprivation when they were supposed to be the intended grantees.
“In the view of the T&T Chamber, these events illustrate the urgent need for the reform of our industrial relations environment. We need to revisit the role and functioning of the Industrial Court, our labour laws, and our entire approach to resolving disputes,” the release stated.
“The Chamber believes that this goes well beyond individual industrial disputes. The entire transformation of the local economy, an important part of our diversification efforts, depends on these changes taking place.
The Chamber said the Petrotrin 'chronicle' should serve as a teacher to this nation, therein the labour force, that it cannot continue to treat industrial disputes with archaic solutions that benefit no one.
“Trinidad and Tobago is in need of major investment and export-driven growth, which cannot happen in a broken industrial relations climate. Fixing this involves much more than work ethic -it extends far beyond the labour efficiency of the workforce to the legal environment in which industrial relations takes place. Our current reality, in which unemployment exists alongside job wanted signs, speaks to a low productivity labour environment, where labour and industrial relations laws seem more appropriate to a time long gone,” the release stated.
The Chamber said the contemporary industrial relations climate has been driving away investments at a time when the population is seeking new job creation initiatives.
The Chamber appealed to the nation to take heed as the Government was well past the time when it could 'solve' the problem with 'patch-up-styled' job opportunities that have continually proven unsustainable.