Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union president general Ancel Roget says he does not accept being retrenched by state-owned Petrotrin and as far as he is concerned he remains an employee of the company.
In an interview with the Guardian Media moments ago, Roget confirmed receiving his retrenchment letter last week but said it was hand-delivered to his office at the OWTU’s Paramount Building and never given to him personally.
“I remain an employee of Petrotrin who is on secondment to the OWTU. I reject the retrenchment notice and upon getting the letter I immediately sent it to my attorneys at Chancery Chambers so they can see if it’s of evidential value,” Roget said.
Asked how he could consider himself still employed if he has being retrenched along with the rest for the Petrotrin workers, Roget said he considers the action illegal and therefore in his mind he remains employed.
Asked the size of the benefit package he will receive, Roget said, “Obviously I have worked with the company for forty years and therefore people in my category will get more than most because of the length of time we have been there and in keeping with the collective agreement.”
He added, “I worked first at Point-a-Pierre and then moved to Trinmar where I have been employed since 1982, so I am a long-standing employee of the company.”
Roget admitted that there were a number of former employees who accepted the letters but insisted he was not one of them.
He said the OWTU general secretary Richard Lee has also been served retrenchment notice.