Guest column: Coalition, Partnership and Petrotrin - by Dr Hamid Ghany

Petrotrin & OWTU share smiles after concluding a deal

With the settlement of the Petrotrin negotiations over the Carnival weekend, the country averted a massive strike that could have been crippling to the economy. 

However, the intervention of the Minister of Labour, Errol McLeod, as a key negotiator for the Government led to a settlement that has brought a sigh of relief to the industrial relations climate.

McLeod, as a member of Cabinet as well as a member of the Activist Council of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), was able to use his skills as a negotiator to bring the two sides together in an historic compromise. 

In many respects, this was a victory for the concept of coalition politics as the Government, through its MSJ component, was able to settle with an arm of the trade union movement that was getting restless and had been threatening to “shut down the country” for more than a year now.

The Government had maintained that there was no five per cent cap across the board and that unions should negotiate with their employers to see what they could get. The unions had maintained that there was a five per cent cap and that they were determined to break it. At the end of the day, both sides claimed victory.

In understanding what transpired here, it is obvious that the Government was able to use its MSJ partner to play a significant role in this process that has given it a major boost in the industrial relations atmosphere. 

The concept of a coalition government operating in this way is still new to many, to the extent that there is animosity towards those who were seen as the supporters of a five percent cap within the Government as opposed to the final settlement by the Government which is binding on the entire Government, including those who may have been of a different view.

At the end of the day, Minister McLeod would not have been involved in the negotiations if the Prime Minister had not authorised his involvement. Minister McLeod would also have had a remit from the Government and would have used his skills as a former President of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) to broker this nine per cent deal for Petrotrin employees.

The philosophy apparently being used by the Government is one in which those enterprises that can afford it will be able to settle above five per cent and those that cannot will have a different negotiating experience. As a profitable state enterprise that earns billions of dollars, Petrotrin could settle at a figure higher than five per cent.

The issue of the strike notice being signed by Government Senator, David Abdulah, in his capacity as General Secretary of the OWTU and not as political leader of the MSJ, has been viewed by some people as being somewhat odd. 

However, in the context of this coalition government, the elasticity of political office is such that one can openly criticise the Government while simultaneously hold office without adverse consequences.

As I have said before, this flexibility whereby coalition partners are free to criticise the Government to which they belong has created an inbuilt opposition within the Government that forces the official Opposition to compete with it. 

To this end, Ancel Roget and his trade union colleagues have been able to criticise the Government and simultaneously reject the offers by the PNM to join them in their struggle. Yet, they were able to negotiate with McLeod as a representative of the Government and arrive at a settlement with the same Government that they have been criticising.

Vincent Cabrera, one of the union leaders in the joint trade union movement, has gone on record—calling for a distinct labour party. To all intents and purposes, the MSJ is supposed to be that labour party. 

That approach adopted by Cabrera would suggest that he is not talking about joining forces with the PNM, but rather seeking to woo supporters away from them. 

By being in the coalition called the People’s Partnership Government, the MSJ has been afforded an opportunity to influence policy in a number of areas that were not previously available to the voice of labour in the traditional two-party configuration of the political landscape.

This Petrotrin settlement is perhaps the best manifestation of coalition politics at work. This is primarily a victory for the MSJ as a coalition partner in the Government. 

Errol McLeod’s recent resignation as political leader of the MSJ did not compromise his personal authority and ability to arrive at a settlement and Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar would have authorised the final settlement for the Government through McLeod.

This is the type of challenge that the PNM has to assess as it seeks to reposition itself in the minds of the population in the aftermath of its 2010 defeat. 

Does the party still want to remain in isolation from other political parties or is it prepared to adopt the coalition approach? Is the PNM prepared to share power with others or will it seek a way back to Government all on its own?