Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancil Roget is challenging the Government to immediately discontinue pending court matters against trade unions just as they did for former Petrotrin president Malcolm Jones.
Roget was speaking at the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) national cossabo on the state of the economy at the OWTU’s Paramount Building, San Fernando, headquarters on Wednesday.
His challenge came two days after Petrotrin withdrew its case against Jones after its attorneys advised that the defence had a strong case.
As a result, the State now has to fork out over $3 million to pay Jones’ legal fees.
Commenting on this issue, Roget said the reason the previous government took legal action against Jones was not to seek justice.
He said: “The union’s position on that is that in the first place, Malcolm Jones was put before the court not for any justice or to deal with any situation with respect to his responsibility, with respect to the various boards that he was responsible for. No.
“Malcolm Jones was called before the court because it was a means of making money on that part of the former government, feeding frenzy with their attorneys.
“So it was a money-making machine.
“The trade union movement, members of the progressive arm of the trade union movement, members of JTUM also suffered like Malcolm Jones because they would have taken us before the court on a number of matters, knowing they would lose those matters, simple and frivolous matters but that too was a money-making machine for them.” Roget added: “So if we know that Malcolm Jones was before the courts just because they know they wanted to make money for their attorneys and also the trade union movement, members of the JTUM.
“IRO, left right and centre, firing workers, 68 workers at NP, workers are being dismissed summarily and they are being told the management is being told fire them.
“We will spend the money in courts because we have deep pockets and those deep pockets were supposed to align and make other deep pockets, pockets of thier friends, their attorneys and so on and is prisongate and industrial relations gate.
“My point this morning and I want them to hear me loud and clear: Malcolm Jones is no better than anyone of the unions or any member of the trade union movement and if you could remove Malcolm Jones’ matter from the court and allow him to go free, remove immediately every single matter you have pending against every union without delay,” he added.
Roget said while the union won the T&TEC and NP matters it was at a high cost as it had to pay exorbitant costs for senior attorneys.
Saying that what’s good for one, good for all, he said: “And therefore if you could refund or repay Malcolm Jones’ attorney for defending him in the court, we demand that all of the monies that we paid to our senior counsel be returned to our union.
“On one hand, you saying we don’t have money, on the other hand, you seeing other people getting money, we will not accept that.”
He said there were a number of outstanding issues, a number of outstanding wage and salary negotiations which must be addressed immediately.
Saying that workers must be treated fairly and equitably across the board, Roget said at the end of the consultation they would resolve to take some form of action.
Recalling the national turmoil faced during the last recession, David Abdulah said whatever economic measures that have to be taken must be based on social justice and equity.
He said the objective of the measures must be to increase government revenue, reduce unnecessary expenditure waste and corruption, create more decent sustainable jobs and create new activities that earned foreign exchange, more exports and reduced imports.
He recommended that special purposes companies be disbanded and their functions absorbed into the various ministries.
Abdulah also suggested that the Government put high premiums on foreign exchange, eg, making foreign companies like PriceSmart pay a 16.5 per cent exchange rate instead of 6.5 per cent.