Senior Reporter
otto.carrington@cnc3.co.tt
Employees of the MIC Institute of Technology staged a protest yesterday to press their demands for management to rescind warning letters.
They claimed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, their working shifts were adjusted, but now management wants them to return to the old system which they insisted cannot be done without consulting with their union. However, while the union was in discussion with the company, the workers were served with warning letters.
Public Services Association (PSA) First Vice President Felisha Thomas, who addressed the workers outside the entrance to MIC in Macoya, said negotiations for a new collective agreement were cancelled on Friday pending the rescinding of the warning letters.
“What we got on Friday evening was another promise from the management to rescind the letters, not the actual rescinding of those letters, so we are here this morning with the workers. The workers are here waiting for their letters from management.”
She added: “While the union has been negotiating with the management regarding hours of work, the management went ahead and issued warning letters to staff regarding the same hours of work that we are discussing at the table. We see that as meeting and treating in bad faith and we told the management that we see it as a mechanism to try and force the hand of the union, which we will not tolerate.”
Chairman of MIC Institute of Technology, Professor Clément Imbert, who walked out to meet with the workers and union representatives, told Guardian Media: “The industrial agreement has certain hours, and we agreed to those hours but now they want to further reduce them, and we don’t agree. That’s the gist of it.
“The warning letters were issued after the pandemic had been officially declared over. We told them that they had to return to the normal working hours that we had agreed upon. We informed the workers that it would take some time for the letters to reach them. However, they know that we have agreed to retract the warning letters.’”
The union and MIC officials met and are expected to meet again on June 14. The workers are expected to have their warning letters rescinded today.