Commentary: Roget's "war" is more important than a settlement at Petrotrin

Ancel Roget’s personal declaration of “war” is a deliberate attempt to try to embarrass the government of Trinidad & Tobago in the eyes of the international community while trying at the same time to inflict serious economic damage to the state Petroleum Company, Petrotrin.

And while the president general of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) is accusing the company and the government of strong arm tactics to “intimidate” workers he is the one who has been using inflammatory language in what is clearly political posturing to advance his personal agenda.

This is not just an industrial matter and the more you look at it you more you realize that Roget is driven by his politics, not the love and welfare of the workers. A strike is not going to benefit the workers and it will certainly weaken the company's ability to pay any more than it can today.

Roget had been talking about “shutting down” the country long before we got to the impasse, which he now blames on the government, and more precisely the Prime Minister. In fact he accused the government, as did Keith Rowley, of declaring a state of emergency to restrict the labour movement.

He has accused Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of riding the backs of workers “to win the 2010 general elections”, which is a fallacy. He has pledged to bring down the government and declared that at the next election “we would get them out”.

The “we” is the trade union movement, which is affiliated with the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) led by OWTU’s David Abdullah. And the “them” includes, for now at least, the MSJ.

Roget's political statement might suit his own purpose but it won’t put food on the table for the people he is about to deprive of an income. Of course that doesn’t worry him because he continues to have his income and perks, paid by the striking Petrotrin workers who won’t have any.

Roget knows that the eyes of the world would be on Trinidad & Tobago this weekend and into next week. He knows that Carnival attracts international media attention. And that's his motivation for the dramatic shut down of the the oil company.

He wants to make a public statement through commuter chaos. It’s not that gas will run out but he is making sure that he creates enough doubt to cause panic. In fact he is hoping that there WILL BE chaos.

Pay attention to his words. The government will “fall flat on its face” he told reporters, adding that it will happen because “fuel supplies to the public will be greatly affected once strike begins."

And recall what he said last week: “This is war! A strike is meant to hurt...Prepare to play mas long after Ash Wednesday."

This is a man with a political agenda that does not include the stability of the company he is targeting or the country. He is not advancing the cause of the workers but doing everything he can to hurt the government and the country, since the energy sector is the lifeblood of the economy.

Worst of all, Roget is using this strike to slash the wrists of the company and bleed it to death. His reckless actions could tarnish the image of the company on the global scene and lower Trinidad & Tobago’s standing, perhaps even lead to a hit on the country's economic and financial credibility.

And the very workers who are shouting insults to the company and the government today could be deprived of jobs because of the irresponsible action of Roget and the other union leaders who are dragging the workers into a strike that would benefit no one. 

With the global economy still in a slump, a loss of production in the energy sector would cause serious damage that would take years to repair.

That’s OK with Roget. That is what his "war" is all about. And he's not worried about the workers who will end up losing their jobs when his little war is over. Such “collateral damage” is inevitable, he would argue.

He will continue to speak his fiery, combative language and spread misinformation and urge workers to make sacrifices in order to keep the struggle alive and win the war.

Roget is walking down a dangerous path that will hurt families across the country for a long time to come. His former colleague, Labour Minister Errol McLeod, is still trying to find a way to prevent this strike, but it is clear that Roget wants the walkout more than he wants a settlement. 

Jai Parasram - 17 February 2012