Mc Leod agrees with OWTU on rejection of new Petrotrin chairman

Minister of Labour Errol McLeod agrees with the President General of the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) who is not pleased with the appointment of former UNC cabinet minister Lindsay Gillette as Chairman of Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (Petrotrin).

On Saturday, Ancil Roget said his union will struggle against anyone on a State board whom the union deems unfit for the post. With respect to Gilette, Roget said, "We are not going to have another Malcolm Jones in the name of Lindsey Gillette."

The union boss called on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to get rid of the “PNM snakes” in the State sector enterprises, who were trying to “set up” Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner.
 
Roget called on members to throw their support behind McLeod who is pioneering an agenda to protect the rights of workers.

Roget said the union knows that Persad-Bissessar was someone who listened to the concerns of the people.“We know that our dear sister has a mantra to listen to the people so we want to commend her for listening to the complaints and putting a halt on the award of the contract,” Roget said.

However, he said there was an urgent need to remove the “PNM snakes” before they caused more trouble. “There are people from the airport enquiry who want to set up Jack Warner,” Roget charged.
 
He added: “They want to set up the Energy Minister. They are like snakes in the grass and our work will not be complete until we remove those snakes.”

Mc Leod was asked Monday about Roget's position.

This is what he the Trinidad Express quoted him as saying: "I respect the views expressed by the OWTU, an organisation which I have contributed to over the years, so I respect very much the views expressed by the OWTU...If I were in the leadership of the OWTU I would have said the very said things."

Gilette served for a short time as Minister of Energy and Energy Industries in the Panday administration in 2000. Mc Leod was not impressed with the iminister. 

"I think Mr Gillette had been in the Ministry of Energy 1996 to 2000 and we did not find particular favour with the way he went about things and I would like to leave it at that,” Mc Leod told reporters.

“I think the OWTU has been voicing concerns. Whatever concerns organised labour might have as long as I am familiar with those concerns I will voice those concerns on the level of Cabinet,” Mc Leod said. He did elaborate on what exactly are these concerns.