Lifeguards protest in front of cruise ship passengers

SHOUTS of “we want we money, give we money” reverberated throughout the Cruise Ship Complex, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain yesterday morning, as disgruntled lifeguards boycotted work and staged a protest outside its compound. The lifeguards, who are lobbying for  a $260 per day salary instead of the $171 per day they now receive, timed this weekend’s protest to coincide with the arrival of two cruise ships to Trinidad. Both ships, which docked at the Port-of-Spain Port between yesterday and today, brought an estimated 2,620 tourists to our shores.

According to the sub steward lifeguard branch of the NUGFW’s Curtis Hernandez, the lifeguards hoped that the protest would make the CPO return to the bargaining table to have “meaningful” discussions with the workers. There had been several meetings called by the CPO, which had been cancelled at the last minute for no apparent reasons, Hernandez said. He said if a favourable agreement could be met at the next sitting, the lifeguards would continue to make their plights known in a positive way. Hernandez called on the Prime Minister to “get involved and bring about a quick solution” because of the importance of the functions of lifeguards to tourism, adding that further protest action would have a negative impact on the industry.

Yesterday’s protest did not appear to hamper the day’s business for the craft vendors, whose booths were set up at the entrance to the Complex. According to one vendor, the protest was aimed at keeping people off the beach over this weekend, and not to prevent the tourists from purchasing souvenirs. Despite the warnings to stay off the beaches, however, a few of the visitors said they would still venture to take at least one “careful” sea bath.