It reached a point of no return Sunday when David Abdulah announced at a news conference that he is taking the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) out of the governing People’s Partnership and resigning as a government senator.
There was nothing surprising in his announcement.
Abdulah had been led by his nose by his labour colleague Ancel Roget, who has vowed on every public platform to bring down the government. Abdulah had two choices: to allow himself to be a pawn and mouthpiece of an anti-government lobby or stand firm and defend labour while fighting for better conditions for workers from within the governing structure.
The bullying of the OWTU won. And the workers in Trinidad & Tobago are poorer for it.
Labour Minister Errol McLeod, who brought the MSJ into the People’s Partnership through the Fyzabad Declaration, had to quit the MSJ leadership because of the belligerent and unreasonable attitude of the leader of McLeod’s former union. The bullying shifted to Abdulah the moment he assumed the leadership with the OWTU behaving as if it alone were the MSJ.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar gave Abdulah every opportunity to resolve his personal crisis and make up his mind about where he wanted to stand. In the end he decided to divorce himself and the MSJ from the partnership.
Kamla’s response was that Abdulah’s demands were “impossible, unreasonable and reckless” and that he was trapped in “isolationist thinking”. That is the view also held by some prominent labour leaders.
In his 3,000 word statement announcing the MSJ’s departure from the partnership Abdulah makes all kinds of charges without offering any evidence to support his charge that the government was ineffective.
"For them it is not about changing the system of governance but rather changing faces because it is 'we time now'. We do not see this approach to politics and governance being altered in the near future," Abdulah charged.
Kamla made the point that the accusations are “vacuous and without a shred of evidence,” noting that the government she leads has established “a more transparent and accountable Government than any other before.”
She was generous to Abdulah by not pointing out his hypocrisy.
The bullying of the OWTU won. And the workers in Trinidad & Tobago are poorer for it.
Labour Minister Errol McLeod, who brought the MSJ into the People’s Partnership through the Fyzabad Declaration, had to quit the MSJ leadership because of the belligerent and unreasonable attitude of the leader of McLeod’s former union. The bullying shifted to Abdulah the moment he assumed the leadership with the OWTU behaving as if it alone were the MSJ.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar gave Abdulah every opportunity to resolve his personal crisis and make up his mind about where he wanted to stand. In the end he decided to divorce himself and the MSJ from the partnership.
Kamla’s response was that Abdulah’s demands were “impossible, unreasonable and reckless” and that he was trapped in “isolationist thinking”. That is the view also held by some prominent labour leaders.
In his 3,000 word statement announcing the MSJ’s departure from the partnership Abdulah makes all kinds of charges without offering any evidence to support his charge that the government was ineffective.
"For them it is not about changing the system of governance but rather changing faces because it is 'we time now'. We do not see this approach to politics and governance being altered in the near future," Abdulah charged.
Kamla made the point that the accusations are “vacuous and without a shred of evidence,” noting that the government she leads has established “a more transparent and accountable Government than any other before.”
She was generous to Abdulah by not pointing out his hypocrisy.
This was the same man who stood on platform after platform just recently with Kamla and other partnership leaders, praising the government and the coalition for the remarkable work it had done in advancing the country. Yet he was bold enough to contradict himself Sunday and claim that the government had not performed and that it was merely a changing of the guard.
The reality is that Abdulah was chastised by his union for praising Kamla and her government and was told that he had to change his tune. After all, he is the General Secretary of the OWTU and by association he is committed, like Roget, to bring down the government.
What is most interesting about the lengthy statement, is that it is full rhetoric and betrays the fact that Abdulah never saw the true purpose of the MSJ in the partnership.
His view was a narrow and parochial one – removing the PNM. The partnership was and remains much more than that and if you analyse what has happened in the past two years you will see clear evidence of a government at work, representing everyone, not just a bloc or an interest group.
But as Kamla quite rightly said, “David's entrance into Government never allowed him the advantage of a national perspective. He remained trapped in isolationist thinking. You cannot negotiate Governance like a Labour Union leader representing the interest of only one group.
“In Government your responsibility is larger than that; it seems not everyone can make the shift.”
For Abdulah and those who see things from his point of view, there is nothing more important than getting their way. Like kids in the schoolyard, when the game doesn’t go their way they take up their marbles and go away. You don't govern a nation that way!
The MSJ’s departure doesn’t weaken the partnership; indeed it gives it strength because now Kamla can advance her labour agenda using the knowledge and strength of veteran labour leader Errol McLeod without having to deal with the belligerent and reckless cacophony coming from Roget and the rest of his tribe.
The MSJ could have benefitted from being a part of the governing structure and influencing state policy on more than labour issues. However, to do it, it had be prepared to work with its coalition partners in a spirit of compromise and consensus. It clearly did not see it things that way.
Kamla is committed to creating a new society with respect for one other and the preservation of human dignity; where the poorest have the same opportunity as the most affluent; where every family has a home; where no one goes hungry, where the entire community raises every child as its own; where everyone who wants a job can acquire one; where people are rewarded and acknowledged in accordance with their respective contributions.
Hers is a vision of continuing service to the people. And that is not in conflict with labour or what the MSJ desires for those who support it.
She remains committed to end divisiveness and to celebrate Trinidad & Tobago’s diversity and rich heritage so that everyone can live together, dream dreams together and build a nation of equals. And that means Labour must understand that it must share with the rest of the state.
The dysfunctional labour body of today is nothing close to the 1976 mass movement that failed to win popular electoral support. And Abdulah and Roget must understand that they face political annihilation by trying to turn the tables on the government.
Workers today need the same “bread, peace and justice” for which they have always struggled. But they won't get it by handing their government to belligerent trade unionists who refuse to understand the difference between rhetoric and good governance.
The reality is that Abdulah was chastised by his union for praising Kamla and her government and was told that he had to change his tune. After all, he is the General Secretary of the OWTU and by association he is committed, like Roget, to bring down the government.
What is most interesting about the lengthy statement, is that it is full rhetoric and betrays the fact that Abdulah never saw the true purpose of the MSJ in the partnership.
His view was a narrow and parochial one – removing the PNM. The partnership was and remains much more than that and if you analyse what has happened in the past two years you will see clear evidence of a government at work, representing everyone, not just a bloc or an interest group.
But as Kamla quite rightly said, “David's entrance into Government never allowed him the advantage of a national perspective. He remained trapped in isolationist thinking. You cannot negotiate Governance like a Labour Union leader representing the interest of only one group.
“In Government your responsibility is larger than that; it seems not everyone can make the shift.”
For Abdulah and those who see things from his point of view, there is nothing more important than getting their way. Like kids in the schoolyard, when the game doesn’t go their way they take up their marbles and go away. You don't govern a nation that way!
The MSJ’s departure doesn’t weaken the partnership; indeed it gives it strength because now Kamla can advance her labour agenda using the knowledge and strength of veteran labour leader Errol McLeod without having to deal with the belligerent and reckless cacophony coming from Roget and the rest of his tribe.
The MSJ could have benefitted from being a part of the governing structure and influencing state policy on more than labour issues. However, to do it, it had be prepared to work with its coalition partners in a spirit of compromise and consensus. It clearly did not see it things that way.
Kamla is committed to creating a new society with respect for one other and the preservation of human dignity; where the poorest have the same opportunity as the most affluent; where every family has a home; where no one goes hungry, where the entire community raises every child as its own; where everyone who wants a job can acquire one; where people are rewarded and acknowledged in accordance with their respective contributions.
Hers is a vision of continuing service to the people. And that is not in conflict with labour or what the MSJ desires for those who support it.
She remains committed to end divisiveness and to celebrate Trinidad & Tobago’s diversity and rich heritage so that everyone can live together, dream dreams together and build a nation of equals. And that means Labour must understand that it must share with the rest of the state.
The dysfunctional labour body of today is nothing close to the 1976 mass movement that failed to win popular electoral support. And Abdulah and Roget must understand that they face political annihilation by trying to turn the tables on the government.
Workers today need the same “bread, peace and justice” for which they have always struggled. But they won't get it by handing their government to belligerent trade unionists who refuse to understand the difference between rhetoric and good governance.
One final note. Abdulah speaks of democracy and people participation. The question I have for him is this: Did he consult the labour movement before taking this step or did he and a cabal decide that they know best?
Jai Parasram | Toronto, 18 June, 2012.
Jai Parasram | Toronto, 18 June, 2012.
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