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| Ancel Roget: “If the MSJ does not agree to leave, well, the OWTU will leave the MSJ." |
His plans were clear with the unrest he had planned around the shutdown of Petrotrin on Carnival weekend. However, his former trade union colleague, now Labour Minister Errol McLeod, intervened and prevented that.
McLeod was not able to fix the problem at Trinidad Cement, so Roget and his union got their chance to strike there.
And now the trade union leader is demanding that the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) must leave the partnership or risk losing the support of the OWTU.
That has put the current MSJ leader in an awkward position. David Abdullah was on tour with the Partnership last week pledging full support for the Prime Minister and stating that he will stand with the governing coalition.
Now Roget is telling him to walk away. The real dilemma for Abdullah is that apart from his leadership of the MSJ he is also an executive member of the OWTU. In fact, during the showdown with Petrotrin he was front and centre leading the battle cry for a shutdown of the state company.
Read the story: Commentary: Choose a side Abdullah; you can't have it both ways
Also read: Commentary: Roget's "war" is more important than a settlement at Petrotrin
Roget has been making his threates against the Prime Minister and the government since last year. On Friday he gave his ultimatum at a joint trade union movement rally in Mayaro.
And he reiterated on Sunday that he is not going to back away from that position and will move to get the MSJ out of the coalition.
“I am standing by my statement that I will take it to the MSJ executive that they leave the People’s Partnership now,” Roget told the Express newspaper.
“If the MSJ does not agree to leave, well, the OWTU will leave the MSJ,” he added.
“The Government cannot say or even imply that they have the support of the labour movement and if labour is represented by the MSJ then they must not be allowed to say they have their support. They must not be allowed to get away with another ruse, they have betrayed the workers of this country,” he insisted. Roget is also calling on NJAC to leave the partnership.
All five parties in the coalition stated last week that they have full confidence in Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and in the partnership.
The MSJ's sole representative in the House of Representatives is McLeod, who fought the election as a member of the UNC. That means his leader is Persad-Bissessar and not Abdullah, who is a government senator. NJAC has no MPs in the lower house.
The coalition is made up of the United National Congress (UNC), the Congress of the People (COP), the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), the Tobago Organisation of the the People (TOP) and the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC).
If the MSJ or NJAC leaves, it will not change the structure of the House of Representatives. However, they will likely lose their inclusion in the government through a presence in the Senate, on state boards and in the diplomatic corps.
The breakdown of seats within the coalition in the House of Represenatives is:
“If the MSJ does not agree to leave, well, the OWTU will leave the MSJ,” he added.
“The Government cannot say or even imply that they have the support of the labour movement and if labour is represented by the MSJ then they must not be allowed to say they have their support. They must not be allowed to get away with another ruse, they have betrayed the workers of this country,” he insisted. Roget is also calling on NJAC to leave the partnership.
All five parties in the coalition stated last week that they have full confidence in Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and in the partnership.
The MSJ's sole representative in the House of Representatives is McLeod, who fought the election as a member of the UNC. That means his leader is Persad-Bissessar and not Abdullah, who is a government senator. NJAC has no MPs in the lower house.
The coalition is made up of the United National Congress (UNC), the Congress of the People (COP), the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), the Tobago Organisation of the the People (TOP) and the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC).
If the MSJ or NJAC leaves, it will not change the structure of the House of Representatives. However, they will likely lose their inclusion in the government through a presence in the Senate, on state boards and in the diplomatic corps.
The breakdown of seats within the coalition in the House of Represenatives is:
- UNC: 21
- COP: 06
- TOP: 02
- MSJ: 00
- NJAC: 00
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