Senior Reporter
kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
The Contractors and General Workers Union (CGWU) is calling on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo to intervene in the ongoing delay of back pay and salary increases owed to daily-paid workers at the San Fernando City Corporation (SFCC).
Despite a collective agreement signed in April 2025, workers are still awaiting implementation of revised salary rates, a four per cent increase, and arrears covering two outstanding bargaining periods.
On Wednesday, dozens of workers staged a demonstration at Harris Promenade outside San Fernando City Hall, demanding clarity from Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Dr Daryl Dindial on when payments will be made.
The agreement, signed on April 24, 2025, covers salary adjustments for the 2014–2016 and 2017–2019 bargaining periods, including agreed back pay. Union officials say workers were initially told the new rates would be implemented in August 2025, with arrears paid by December, timelines that have yet to be met.
Union General Secretary Ermine De Bique-Meade said workers remain frustrated over the delay.
“I cannot understand why the directive was not given to the relevant authority to make the necessary arrangements to ensure that the workers are paid. It was never about the salaries,” she said, noting that minor errors in sections of the agreement required correction but did not affect the salary rates themselves.
De Bique-Meade warned that if no clear payment timeline is provided by April 2, further action will follow, including a demonstration at the SFCC’s Carib Street complex and escalation to the Ministry of Finance if necessary. She added that some workers may also individually withhold their services.
The union executive and branch leadership have already met to discuss the impasse and agreed to begin protest action over non-payment of new rates and arrears.
De Bique-Meade said the union has engaged the CPO on multiple occasions, including meetings last Friday and earlier this week. She also noted that written requests to Finance Minister Tancoo have received no direct response, apart from a public statement indicating that workers who signed agreements in April 2025 would be paid before the end of the first quarter of 2026. However, no formal payment schedule has been communicated.
She rejected informal suggestions that workers should have “waited” following the change in government.
“When the new government came into place, what we were being told on the side was that we should have waited, and therefore, they have no commitment to pay us. But these same ministers, in government today, had their new salaries agreed upon while the past government was in place,” she said.
De Bique-Meade highlighted that while members of the Public Service Association and teachers have received their adjustments, SFCC workers remain unpaid. Affected staff include maintenance personnel, tradesmen, sanitation workers, transport operators, store attendants, watchmen, and insect vector control personnel.
She warned that continued delays risk affecting both morale and the delivery of essential city services.
Attempts to reach Dindial and Tancoo for comment were unsuccessful up to press time.
