That is the mantra of people like Ancel Roget, president general of the Oilfield Workers' Trade Union (OWTU), who has made himself the spokesperson for the Labour Movement in Trinidad & Tobago and for the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ).
It was his bullying that caused David Abdulah, who is general secretary of the OWTU, to walk away from the governing People's Partnership. In his haste to toe the Roget line Abdulah forgot what he himself had been saying for the past two years - that the government had done a remarkable job of improving conditions for workers.
Not all trade unions support the Roget and the OWTU agenda, which is to destabilise the government and try to engineer the collapse of the present administration.
It was his bullying that caused David Abdulah, who is general secretary of the OWTU, to walk away from the governing People's Partnership. In his haste to toe the Roget line Abdulah forgot what he himself had been saying for the past two years - that the government had done a remarkable job of improving conditions for workers.
Not all trade unions support the Roget and the OWTU agenda, which is to destabilise the government and try to engineer the collapse of the present administration.
And that is an annoyance for Roget who suggested on the Labour Day platform Tuesday that those who don't share his views are traitors to the working class. He called on supporters to "call out" their fellow comrades who are "selling out". He said, "You have to name them and point them out."
His definition of "selling out" is anyone who has refused to defy the state and those who have seen wisdom in settling outstanding industrial agreements - 36 of them - that had been pending under the former Manning People's National Movement (PNM). He himself settled some of them!
His definition of "selling out" is anyone who has refused to defy the state and those who have seen wisdom in settling outstanding industrial agreements - 36 of them - that had been pending under the former Manning People's National Movement (PNM). He himself settled some of them!
What is perhaps most interesting is that Roget and company didn't have a problem with the delays when Manning and his administration ignored labour.
So when Watson Duke and his executive reached agreement with the government for what Duke considered an excellent package, Roget decided that Duke "sold out". Now TTUTA has said it doesn't want to be part of any political movement, so Roget's next target would be Roustan Job.
Roget claims to represent a democratic movement but so far he has failed to get the general membership of labour unions to stand publicly behind him in his declared intention to overthrow the government, not even his colleague in the SWWTU, Michael Annisette, who might also be a "sell-out" for accepting a good contract for port workers.
We have past the stage in Trinidad & Tobago of rabble rousing, desk thumping militants who behave like school yard bullies and hope that they can have their way whenever they shout.
So when Watson Duke and his executive reached agreement with the government for what Duke considered an excellent package, Roget decided that Duke "sold out". Now TTUTA has said it doesn't want to be part of any political movement, so Roget's next target would be Roustan Job.
Roget claims to represent a democratic movement but so far he has failed to get the general membership of labour unions to stand publicly behind him in his declared intention to overthrow the government, not even his colleague in the SWWTU, Michael Annisette, who might also be a "sell-out" for accepting a good contract for port workers.
We have past the stage in Trinidad & Tobago of rabble rousing, desk thumping militants who behave like school yard bullies and hope that they can have their way whenever they shout.
Workers in Trinidad & Tobago want stability, not chaos. They need to know that every new day brings hope for a better life for them and their families. They know that bullying and threats cannot deliver those things.
When the government moved the minimum wage to $12.50 an hour from the $9 a hour where the PNM had kept it since 2005 it was because of a deep concern for workers while also taking into consideration that for workers to survive businesses must also prosper.
That is the difference between a caring government that seeks the national interest as opposed to trade unionists with a narrow, selfish interest.
Now is the time to call out people people like Roget. When he told workers to go on strike did he cut his fat income and compensation package as head of the OWTU? His bread was nicely buttered while workers were starving.
That is the difference between a caring government that seeks the national interest as opposed to trade unionists with a narrow, selfish interest.
Now is the time to call out people people like Roget. When he told workers to go on strike did he cut his fat income and compensation package as head of the OWTU? His bread was nicely buttered while workers were starving.
Did his sidekick, David Abdulah, stop taking his salary as a government senator and as an executive member of the OWTU? Workers had none of that! Is Roget committed enough, like Jack Warner, to take a salary of $1 dollar a month and hand the rest to a charitable foundation to provide help for the workers?
Workers need to ask these questions.
Workers need to ask these questions.
They need to ask Roget how they would be better off when the unions destabilise the economy and cause businesses to close shop and leave. That is where Roget is planning to take the country with his destructive agenda while pretending to stand up for the rights of workers.
If workers truly care about their future they should start paying attention and stop listening to useless posturing by those who cannot deliver anything but instability and choas.
If workers truly care about their future they should start paying attention and stop listening to useless posturing by those who cannot deliver anything but instability and choas.
The Labour movement still has the best representation in government through a leadership that cares and a minister of labour who spent his life in the service of workers.
They don't need Roget to preach his hate and venom. We need to remember the words of Plato in making a judgment about the current national conversation about labour: "Wise men speak when they have something to say; fools when they have to say something."
Jai Parasram | 20 June 2012
They don't need Roget to preach his hate and venom. We need to remember the words of Plato in making a judgment about the current national conversation about labour: "Wise men speak when they have something to say; fools when they have to say something."
Jai Parasram | 20 June 2012
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