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| Senator David Abdulah, left, joins Public Services Association president Watson Duke and president of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union Ancel Roget at PSA’s protest Tuesday in Port of Spain. |
Abdullah was there in his role as president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Non-Governmental Organisations (FITUN). Last week PSA president Watson Duke harshly criticised Abdullah for not standing up for the workers.
Duke apologised to Abdullah, saying he "spoke in error" when he slammed the trade union leader.
The Senator's response was to appear on the union platform. "The one per cent offer should have never been put on the table," Abdulah told the crowd outside the Ministry of Finance in Port of Spain.
However, he made it clear that the present government did not create the problem. "We have to recognise the reality of the fact that many of the ills we now experience are due to the sins of those who were there before. We must never forget that," he said.
One notable figure in the protest was the Member of Parliament for Diego Martin Central and former PNM cabinet minister, Dr Amery Browne, who joined the workers outside the CPO's office. He said he was there to support his constituents who work in the public service.
Communication Workers Union (CWU) president, Joseph Remy attacked Browne for showing up to support workers. "If they (the PNM administration) did what they should have done when they were in power, then we wouldn't be here," Remy said
Oilfield Workers Trade Union president, Ancel Roget, called the CPO's offer the "height of disrespect" and called on labour to use its collective strength to demand "a decent offer".
The large crowd that gathered Tuesday included health sector workers from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex and St Ann’s Hospital.
Others taking part in the "Blackout Tuesday" protest included workers from Customs and Excise, Board of Inland Revenue, Central Statistical Office, Treasury, Airports Authority of T&T, Civil Aviation Authority, Ministry of Education and other ministries. The gathering was estimated at about 15,000.
1 comment:
The issue here should not be which government to "blame"
As a taxpayer and sometime user of so-called government "services", far and away the majority of "civil servants" I have ever encountered in T&T, cannot for the level of their individual contribution / work, be worth the pay they now get.
Talk of ANY increases is totally inappropriate unless and until there is first a "wind of change" through every ministry and department.
The systems have not been revised seemingly since the introduction of computers and those occupying the desks of bureaucracy, are far too many, whilst individually and collectively doing far to little.
Forget any talk of pay increases at this point. Review both the total numbers, the individual work performance, the acceptable standards of output that would be appropriate, and the organization, systems, and in some cases the supplements to their existing pay from corruption, and THEN consider what each may be worth.
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