Warner slams unions for trying to intimidate PM and exploit her gender

Works Minister Jack Warner, MP for St Joseph Herbert Volney and Junior Works Minister Stacy Roopnarine at the sod turning for the highway project at the Churchill Roosevelt-Solomon Hochoy intersection

Jack Warner told reporters Friday several organisations are using strong-arm tactics to try to influence wage negotiations hoping to intimidate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar by exploiting her gender.

"They tend to forget so quickly that for eight years, nobody could have quacked in this country. They tend to forget so quickly that for eight years, no police ever received an increase. They tend to forget so quickly that for eight years, police, prison officers, PSA did not say boo..."

"And suddenly, in eight months, because the Prime Minister is a woman, and particularly an Indian woman, everybody want everything same time. Show me 40 per cent. Show me 20 per cent and so on; well, take all," he said. 

The Works and Transport Minister made the comments as he delivered the feature address at the sod-turning ceremony for Package C of the Churchill Roosevelt/ Uriah Butler Highway Interchange Project.

He said the highway project would take a maximum of 24 months to complete with employment for about 750 people at the peak of construction.

Warner also spoke about other development projects that begin soon, including  the Chaguanas hospital, the Mamoral Dam and expansion of campuses of the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of TT (COSTAATT).

He will turn the sod for the Chaguanas hospital Saturday. Other projects include the south Campus of the UWI and the $1 billion Mamoral Dam.

Warner also promised that on Monday he would tour the site for the Point Fortin hospital which “no government built”.

On Monday and Tuesday this week, several police officers called in sick as part of an ongoing strategy to force government to increase the five per cent wage offer currently on the table.

In Parliament Friday Persad-Bissessar condemned their action while praising those officer who remained on the job. She warned that "this level of irresponsibility will not go unchecked" and said while the government is willing to negotiate in good faith it will be allow police to hold the nation to ransom.

"Those members of the Police Service who may believe that an abandonment of their duty to conduct an essential service such as the protection of our citizens, will find favour either with the public or the Government as a negotiation tactic, can expect quite the opposite," she declared.

The Public Services Association is also demanding more money from the government for its members. It has threatened to block construction of the $7.2 billion highway to Point Fortin and earlier this month some members staged a protest at the PM's residence to dramatise their position.

"I read somewhere where some foolish statement was made that they will block the highway to Point Fortin. Well, block it. Block it. While these people who always want to say, 'Give me,' they don't understand that you have to have development," Warner said.

He added, "But if everybody want to say, 'Give me, give me, give me,' and nobody want to say, 'Here,' then that will be critical for us."

Warner also told reporters that cabinet has not approved a 20 per cent pay hike for police officers. “The cabinet of which I am a member...never agreed to that,” Warner insisted.

The government information service has corroborated that saying that no such increase was approved and that the negotiations with the police will continue.