Not a man must go?

The policy of some trade unions in both the public and private sectors to insist on, indeed demand the retention of existing levels of employment, particularly in cases where acquired technology has made affected workers redundant, will in the end hurt the respective manufacturers’ ability to be competitive internationally. The position articulated by late Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, George Chambers, in his 1984 Budget Speech that “the crucial challenge to industry remains that of making itself export oriented and cost competitive in the international market place” is as relevant today as it was 20 years ago.

Yet even as China, Taiwan and other Far East countries have positioned themselves to effectively penetrate the Trinidad and Tobago market and its principal export markets and undersell us because of a combination of cheap labour and vastly improved technology, some trade union leaders still hold on to the view that even though there are union members made redundant by technology they should nonetheless be kept on. And this even as World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and regulations and the soon to be established Free Trade Area of the Americas will result in the easier penetration of our markets by foreign products, there is the counter productive philosophy of “Not a man must go”, whether it be at the Trinidad and Tobago Electriciry Commission, the Water and Sewerage Authority or the Port Authority. For example, where it applies to the Port Authority the landed cost of materials consigned to manufacturers is higher and therefore must be factored into the final production cost.

In turn, there is a domino effect when T&TEC, WASA and the Port Authority , for example, in passing on the additional costs for electricity, water and port handling charges to the general public trigger, however unintentionally, an increase in the cost of living, and with it demands for added wage claims to enable workers to deal with the new situation. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had as far back as 1989, when Trinidad and Tobago, then in crisis, had sought Structural Adjustment Loans, had insisted that the country would have to substantially trim its public sector. The IBRD, in particular, would state that the sector was “characterised by substantial overemployment” and “operating inefficiencies”. Meanwhile, levels of overemployment, which still exist today in the public sector, continue to add to production costs with specific reference to export oriented industries and help defeat the purpose of investment allowances, tax deductibles and all the other Government measures designed to promote exports and development.