Freelance writer
United National Congress (UNC) Senator David Nakhid is urging Caribbean Airlines pilots to take a bold step forward and stand up for their rights against the airline and the Government.
He made the call during a media conference at the Opposition leader’s Office in Port-of-Spain, yesterday.
He said the people had spoken through their votes in the recent Local Government Elections but this was not enough. He said there are still those who felt voting was not directed to them and that the responsibility lies on everyone.
Referring to the current stalled wage talks between CAL and the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots’ Association (TTALPA), Nakhid said the UNC continues to stand up for the rights of the people of T&T but it was time certain sectors of society stand with them.
“This is a Government that bullies people all across the board and I want the CAL pilots to take note of that because while there are certain sectors of Trinidad and Tobago who see themselves above the fray, that they don’t have to vote…But these CAL pilots and other sectors, who our Government continue to oppress; our teachers, our nurses, our fire officers our policemen, they need to come out and say to Rowley enough is enough,” Nakhid said.
“The UNC, we keep standing in a gap and you have to stand with us. All of you did, but we need the CAL pilots to come out. Don’t feel yourselves about the fray, voting is not for you! Because we have certain sectors in our society, they feel that voting is not for me.”
Nakhid claimed that during the UNC’s tenure from 2010 to 2015, over 150 wage negations were amicably settled. Addressing the current CAL wage negotiations, he added, “We would not have the indignity of seeing this here, the indignity of seeing you all laid off, not treated like the working class you aspired to become. You are not being placed slowly into the poor working class.”
Nakhid also said he was concerned about several top appointments to the airline. He said the vice chairman of CAL’s board is Michael Quamina, who is also Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s attorney.
He also raised questions about CAL’s leasing of Boeing 737 aircraft for its fleet.
Meanwhile, St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen said she was concerned about the readiness of schools for the new academic year with only eight days before the new academic year starts.
Echoing the T&T Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) concern on the issue, Ameen said apart from this, there are many social issues affecting the progress of an effective learning system.
She said the Government has turned a blind eye to issues of school violence, bullying, sexual assault, school dropouts, safe school meals, and teacher absenteeism in the classroom. She said the inclusion of Venezuelan migrant children from next month was only cosmetic, as only a minority will benefit from the programme.
“This Venezuelan crisis has been existing for years. The Government refuses to acknowledge the situation in Venezuela as a crisis because Keith Christopher Rowley has his interest with those in Venezuela. The situation with the migrants is something that the UNC and our Opposition leader have been calling on the Government to address, particularly with critical issues such as education and the children, healthcare for migrants, and their security and well-being,” Ameen said.
“We are concerned that while we hear of a programme for migrant children, we are concerned about the Government’s ability to implement that given their track record. They are only treating with a small margin and that the real problem with thousands of migrant children would not be addressed. Even the situation when they come here, how they are treated, we would not get to properly deal with that if we do not acknowledge and if Keith Rowley as a Prime Minister does not acknowledge this humanitarian crisis in neighbouring Venezuela.”
Ameen said there are also disparities in the education system.
“Education in this country might be free but there are many children who do not have equal access to the same quality of education, and in schools that are government-run and funded. The Government has to look at its management system where staffing and resources are concerned, a look at the curriculum and the programmes in those schools so that every child across the board would have equal access to education and not about prestige school and secondary school and different types of school, but every school and every student would have that access,” she said.