Executive members of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) met Wednesday night to discuss whether the party will remain a member of the People's Partnership coalition.
The meeting came within hours of an announcement from the Office of the Prime Minister that former MSJ leader Errol McLeod has been appointed acting Prime Minister until Saturday while Kamla Persad-Bissessar is in Suriname to attend the Caricom Heads of Government at their 23rd Inter-Sessional Conference.
Government senator and MSJ leader David Abdullah chaired the meeting, which took place at the party’s headquarters in Marabella.
The Express newspaper reported that President General of the Oilfield Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) Ancel Roget and Vincent Cabrera, leader of the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU), attended the meeting.
It's the second MSJ meeting since Roget announced on Sunday that the MSJ should leave the governing coalition because it is anti-labour. He give the MSJ an ultimatum saying if it doesn't leave it will lose the support of the OWTU.
Roget's union is just one of several labour groups that are members of the MSJ. Both Roget and Cabrera have been saying that now is the time for labour to unite and form its own political vehicle.
Roget said on Sunday the Government "is attacking the trade union movement and by extension the workers, and there are a number of other problems that we experience.”
Roget believes a labour party is a viable option for Trinidad & Tobago. “The biggest constituency in the country is the constituency of workers and if workers feel they have their own representation coming from a political vehicle that represent them then the rest will be left to be seen. We need a political vehicle to represent the interest of working people.”
Read related story: Commentary: McLeod's departure from MSJ won't damage coalition
The meeting came within hours of an announcement from the Office of the Prime Minister that former MSJ leader Errol McLeod has been appointed acting Prime Minister until Saturday while Kamla Persad-Bissessar is in Suriname to attend the Caricom Heads of Government at their 23rd Inter-Sessional Conference.
Government senator and MSJ leader David Abdullah chaired the meeting, which took place at the party’s headquarters in Marabella.
The Express newspaper reported that President General of the Oilfield Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) Ancel Roget and Vincent Cabrera, leader of the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU), attended the meeting.
It's the second MSJ meeting since Roget announced on Sunday that the MSJ should leave the governing coalition because it is anti-labour. He give the MSJ an ultimatum saying if it doesn't leave it will lose the support of the OWTU.
Roget's union is just one of several labour groups that are members of the MSJ. Both Roget and Cabrera have been saying that now is the time for labour to unite and form its own political vehicle.
Roget said on Sunday the Government "is attacking the trade union movement and by extension the workers, and there are a number of other problems that we experience.”
Roget believes a labour party is a viable option for Trinidad & Tobago. “The biggest constituency in the country is the constituency of workers and if workers feel they have their own representation coming from a political vehicle that represent them then the rest will be left to be seen. We need a political vehicle to represent the interest of working people.”
Read related story: Commentary: McLeod's departure from MSJ won't damage coalition
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