Labour consultant Robert Giuseppi believes that the recent closure of Petrotrin and workers being sent home among other social and economic problems have forced the trade union movement to unite on some issues.
Giuseppi, who is also a former president general of the National Trade Union Center (NATUC) and a former leader of the National Union of Government and Federated Workers’ Union (NUGFW), said the labour movement has been historically divided but can no longer stay that way.
“Over the past years, there have been disagreements after disagreements, breakups after breakups. I think at this point in time when they see the situation of the workers and common people it is important for them to show their membership and the public they want unity. Social justice is decaying. When you look at employers in the private and public sector, they seem to to be taking the easy way out and getting rid of the workers,” he told the T&T Guardian in an interview yesterday.
Last Friday, NATUC held a large rally throughout Port-of-Spain where hundreds of workers marched for the cause of better working conditions and called for an improvement of the economy.
Joining NATUC president Michael Anissette was Ancel Roget, the president general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) and the Public Services Association (PSA) president, Watson Duke.
Giuseppi added that the labour leaders are getting more shrewd as they face more attacks from the employer class.
“I think that it is important to unite because we are seeing that the employer’s main weapon is dismissal. We have seen no indication from any employer that there is a plan after sending home 5,000 and 2,000 and 300 workers. Thousands of workers have gone home. The trade union leaders are smart enough on this point to ensure that they focus their attention on the disappearance of social justice in the industrial relations area.”
He said the Industrial Relations environment is very combative at the moment and does not see the situation improving.
“Right now it is is the situation of a big boy trying to lick up small boy. Years ago we agreed with the International Labour Organization (ILO) about social justice, Decent Work Agenda and democratizing the Industrial Relations environment. That has gone through the window in the last three to four years.”
Speaking about Duke, who is also the Tobago Minority Leader who was campaigning at the rally last Friday, he said politics is naturally linked to trade union activities.
“Industrial relations is made up of politics, economic and social. Therefore the political area is very important just as the economic and social. We need labour laws to be revised. If the trade union movement could focus on having the labour laws amended and making the environment more democratic then they should,” he said.