Yet Abdullah is at the same time wearing a different hat as an executive member of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and is at the forefront of the union's impending strike against the state-owned Petrotrin.
A strike at the company is a no-win situation for both sides and could cause irrecoverable damage to the company and the national economy. And Abdullah knows it.
Abdullah would argue that workers have a right to use the one weapon that they have - the ability to withhold their labour when they feel they have not got a fair deal. And indeed workers have that right. But shutting down Petrotrin at this time is nothing short of driving a stake into the company's heart.
The question that arises in this matter is whether Abdullah and the OWTU leadership are looking at the big picture and being honest with the membership. Or are they using misinformation and fiery rhetoric to create mass hysteria among the workers and cause them to act as a mob?
Based on media reports it seems that the company is offering more than a fair deal to the workers although OWTU President General Ancel Roget is harping only on the fact that Petrotrin is holding fast to its five per cent wage offer. Both Roget and Abdullah know very well that the deal is more than that.
In fact Roget and his union went into these negotiations asking for a 75 per cent increase, which everyone knows is ridiculous given the state of the global economy. He is insisting that he has changed that position but is not saying what he is prepared to accept.
In the meantime the union is setting up camp, ready to deprive workers of a livelihood and create chaos in the country. Already motorists are in panic mode and the strike has not even started.
I cannot help but conclude that the motivation for their action is highly political. Comments by Roget leave no doubt about this since he has stated that his intention is to inflict harm and that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar would pay the ultimate political price for not bending to give the union what it wants.
And the fact that Abdullah - who should know better as a government insider - should be helping to solve this problem rather than adding fuel to the flame.
This is the same kind of misinformation by the labour movement that caused Watson Duke to become a pariah and a target of scorn by other union leaders and some of his own members in the Public Services Association (PSA). Duke signed on to a deal that was best for his members and the same happened at the port. But ask those like Roget about it and they will tell you, without presenting verifiable evidence, that it was a betrayal.
Take a look at what Petrotrin is offering and you would realise that the OWTU is misleading the Petrotrin workers.
And the fact that Abdullah - who should know better as a government insider - should be helping to solve this problem rather than adding fuel to the flame.
This is the same kind of misinformation by the labour movement that caused Watson Duke to become a pariah and a target of scorn by other union leaders and some of his own members in the Public Services Association (PSA). Duke signed on to a deal that was best for his members and the same happened at the port. But ask those like Roget about it and they will tell you, without presenting verifiable evidence, that it was a betrayal.
Take a look at what Petrotrin is offering and you would realise that the OWTU is misleading the Petrotrin workers.
An ad by the company points to the fact that when the package is taken together Petrotrin workers are getting REAL increases of between 24 and 39 per cent. Where else can a labourer earn $11,895.47 a month in Trinidad & Tobago? The charts below tell a very interesting story. (Click on the chart to see the details in a new, larger window.)
If I were a Petrotrin worker I would demand full disclosure from my union about the negotiations and ask why I am being asked to strike.
This is a political move and Abdullah must make a clear choice about the side on which he sits; he can't have his cake and eat it too.
If the MSJ wants to belong to the governing coalition, it must act responsibly. The truth is the Prime Minister has been most generous on this matter. She could easily show Abdullah the door and let the MSJ depart without it doing any harm to her government.
Roget wants to destroy the government and he is using workers at Petrotrin to help him.
This is a political move and Abdullah must make a clear choice about the side on which he sits; he can't have his cake and eat it too.
If the MSJ wants to belong to the governing coalition, it must act responsibly. The truth is the Prime Minister has been most generous on this matter. She could easily show Abdullah the door and let the MSJ depart without it doing any harm to her government.
Roget wants to destroy the government and he is using workers at Petrotrin to help him.
The workers are the pawns in this game and while I expect certain people to behave this way out of political expediency, I cannot accept that Abdullah should be allowed to be a part of this destructive movement while enjoying the perks of being in the inner circle of the governing political establishment.
Jai Parasram | 16 February 2012
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