Share ownership or nothing

Michael Annisette, Presi-dent, Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) is adamant on the port not being privatised. What he would like to see though is the port becoming more commercialised. “We would like to see the port in local hands, with local people being given an opportunity to invest in the port. We are looking for shared ownership,” he stressed. He added that if at any time,  “the Board is not operating in the interest of the port and the workers, I am prepared to walk.” He described as phenomenal the number of containers coming into the port. “We have been having over the last ten years, a growth rate of containerised cargo between 13 and 15 percent annually,” he said in an interview. He urged government to fast track the process of adding more land to the port. Even as government intends to spend some $240 million on port rehabilitation, Annisette wants land space to be top priority. He explained that the equipment and land space requirement have not been able to keep pacewith the number of containers coming in. “That is one of the fundamental reasons for major bottlenecks in the port industry, as it relates to port operations, especially the port of Port-of-Spain.

Annisette, who now sits on the PATT board, says he intends to take advantage of his position and to get all possible benefits his members deserve. “Having a representative on the Board, I think workers’ views can be advanced in clear terms.  It is something that works internationally — in European countries and companies in the United States.  If you look at the ILO convention, the question of social dialogue with social partners is a critical ingredient in carrying a country forward. “Yes, there are benefits that can be derived from having a union representative on the Board.  You are better able to put across both the union’s and the workers’ position.” He adds, “You will be able to bring a different kind of thinking to the Board, so that in making decisions that would impact on workers, they may be able to go in a particular direction.” Annisette, who has been employed at the port for more than 30 years, has been actively involved with the trade union movement there for almost all his working life. As part of a NATUC delegation that met the Prime Minister, were able to convince him that the government needed to rethink its position on the port. It is this that eventually led his PATT appointment.  

Annisette also said that he wanted to minimise problems on the port and complimented PATT chairman, Noel Garcia, for working with the union to resolve labour issues. “I am hope that this trend would continue and the Board would co-operate with the union to build consensus rather than function in an adverserial manner,” said Annisette. On the question of a pension Plan for port workers, Annisette said he  would like to see this placed on the front burner. “Now that I am on the Board, I think I would be able to articulate what  the union’s concerns are with the hope that management and other members of the Board would be more appreciative, so that we could get closer to solving the issue which is absolutely necessary,” said Annisette. He declined to comment on a recent allegation by a Port-of-Spain businessman that ships were by-passing the ports of Port-of-Spain and Point Lisas and heading for Brazil. He felt that  if the problem exists, it cannot be solved overnight. Annisette said that if Trinidad and Tobago is to be the transhipment hub of the Caribbean, Government needs to rethink the question of the lands that they are giving away — lands that belong to the port.

Annisette is of the view that port workers needed retraining and re- tooling, especially as technology is changing rapidly. “My union will be making strong representations to the Board on this score,” said Annisette. He admitted the new technology could bring about a reduction in manpower and even a reduction in the union’s membership but saw this as a reality that workers can’t escape. “That is a reality that one has to live with, and as the head of a union, I don’t like to bury my head in the sand. If it is that new technology would affect labour, it is something we will have to deal with, but the question is how,” said Annisette. He disclosed that the SWWTU has set up a company, the purpose for which is to harness the skills of its members who are employed with the Port Authority, “so that we can go out in the market and find jobs for those workers who may be displaced by changes through new technology.” There are more than 1,600 port workers who are members of the union which also represents workers in some 25 other organisations, explained Annisette. On the port generating revenues over $200 million annually, Annisette said, “This does not mean we are going to compromise our members’ rights at the expense of profitability or expediency.”