Discrimination against Afro-Trinidadian

THE EDITOR: If I am wrong, Madame Editor I hope either you or one of your readers will correct me. My impression is that an elected government in a democratic state is expected to govern in the best interests of all the people. It is expected that the economic decisions it makes would maximise the taxes it collects in such a way that it would enhance the welfare of the entire country and create an atmosphere in which all the people would be able to live normal productive lives. The oaths that members of the executive take foreswears them to “do right to all manner of people without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.”

The Manning government earlier this year took a decision in the best interest of the country and with an eye to ensure maximum productive use of its revenue, to offer all workers at Caroni (1975) Ltd VSEP because it found the company to be a drain on the public purse. It cannot be gainsaid that the vast majority of the workers were of East Indian descent and primarily of the Hindu religion. Some years ago the late Morris Marshall stated in the House that his Laventille constituents were being discriminated against because they stood less chance than a snowball in hell to get a job at Caroni since the union agreement with the company stated that no one will be employed in any of the bargaining units unless the union first approved the worker and unless he or she first became a union member. Mr Basdeo Panday who was then opposition leader and also president of the ATSE-FWTU vehemently denied the statements by the late member. Within a week however the company confirmed Mr Marshall’s statements exposing the man who has always professed his contempt and abhorrence of “lies, half-truths and innuendoes.”

Now if my assumptions about the role of governments are more or less correct, then the government’s VSEP offer to the primarily Hindu and East Indian workers at Caroni was quite in order and it must be commended for making a hard and firm economic decision and sticking to it despite severe political condemnation. The VSEP offer was taken straight out of the negotiated union agreement for termination registered with the Industrial Court and even those terms were enhanced. The government in addition agreed to pay for counselling and other psychological services to minimise the traumatic effect of separation, pay to retrain the workers in a wide field of new employment opportunities; guarantee a lot of land to build a house to those who did not now have one; made an offer of a plot of land for all those who were interested in going into agriculture and gave the additional assurance that no land would be given to any applicant who was not employed at Caroni until the former Caroni primarily Hindu and East Indian workers needs had been met.

Madame Editor, in view of the firestorm of racial accusations made by primarily Hindu and East Indian members of Parliament who represent the primarily Hindu and East Indian former Caroni workers charging racial discrimination in the phrase “especially Afro-Trinidadian males” in a budget document, with special reference to the VSEP offer of land to the primarily Hindu and East Indian workers, I charge, Madame Editor, the government is discriminating against me, an Afro-Trinidadian. If the government has decided that this group of primarily Hindu and East Indians will be socially depressed because of the effects of VSEP, then I charge that is based on compassion and not economics as their union’s registered agreement of what it would consider acceptable financial terms for separation were not only met but enhanced that this group of primarily Hindu and East Indian workers would be able to adjust to their new life outside of the sugar company.

Let us madame, examine the plight of thousands of workers who were vseped at other state enterprises. Telco now TSTT (PNM party group#1). Does any former primarily Afro-Trini vseped worker own or control any stretch of telephone cable in addition to their VSEP or can earn any revenue in their forced retirement from any of TSTT’s installations? Port Authority. (PNM party group#2) Does any primarily Afro-Trini longshoreman alias stevedore a great many of whom live ‘behine-de-bridge’ and in Laventille own any square footage of any customs shed that he could continue to earn a little thing on the side to enhance his VSEP as primarily Hindu East Indian Caroni workers will be able to do from lands guaranteed to them in addition to their enhanced VSEP?

Does any former Petrotrin worker have any oil seepage anywhere or has been favoured with a farm-out of one well? And I can continue on and on, sir, with WASA (PNM party group #3), postal authority, TTEC, BWIA. In all these cases primarily Afro-Trinis have been discriminated against. If the reference to “primarily Afro-Trinidad males” in the budget document is an “error,” then to use the famous phrase from a notorious UNC sycophant from Santa Cruz I demand that the government withdraw that obnoxious discriminatory offer of land to the primarily Hindu East-Indian former Caroni workers who received an enhanced VSEP offer way and above what their union negotiated and considered adequate for them to live on in their retirement.

AUGUSTUS CLARKE
Trincity