Chaos at Piarco Airport

This sick out by the security officers comes at the height of the August vacation period when passenger arrivals and departures are heavy at the country’s major airport.

It was only Wednesday night too that Prime Minister Patrick Manning rejoiced in this country’s civil aviation system regaining Category One status, which means that TT complies with the highest level of international standards of safety and security for its aviation systems.

He was speaking at a function at Crowne Plaza to honour Civilian Aviation Authority staff.

When Newsday visited Piarco, shortly after the sick-out started, with the non-appearance of security officers for the 6 am to 2 pm shift, there were long lines of frustrated passengers awaiting check-in for international and domestic flights.

Armed police officers assisted Airports Authority officers in checking passports and other travel documents, duties which would have normally been carried out by the security officers.

Passengers who were booked on the 10 am flight to Tobago were forced to wait for more than an hour to board their flight, while those waiting to board international flights complained about the long delays. One female passenger travelling to Tobago said she was stunned to see about 20 heavily armed soldiers entering the terminal and thought there was some kind of major security threat at the airport.

The situation at Crown Point International Airport in Tobago was less chaotic but operations were markedly slowed, as security guards there were also involved in the sick out action. Even though the full complement of guards for the 6 am shift failed to show, others manning the 10 am to 6 pm shift were deployed to assist.

Andrew Dardaine, president of the Estate Police Association, (EPA) told reporters yesterday that an average of 90 percent of the officers failed to report to work at Piarco.

“Normally there are 38 officers per shift,” he said adding that only “two of the 38 officers reported for the 2 pm shift at Piarco and three at Crown Point.”

Dardaine said the workers are “fed-up and tired of not being paid properly.” The association is engaged in negotiations with the Airports Authority for a new collective agreement for the period 2006-2008.

He also complained of an insufficient amount of security guards and warned that he did not know how long “the absenteeism will continue.”

But even as joint police and soldiers patrols are manning all major security check points at Piarco, Andre Cowan, second vice-president of the EPA with responsibility for Tobago, said, “It is more than likely that Crown Point would have to seek police and army assistance as well.”

He said the protest is necessary because “passengers have been put at risk because you have a fleet of tired officers on duty who will not be as alert and as vigilant as they ought to be.”

In a statement, the Airports Authority assured the public that operations at the airports will continue as normal despite the sick out. Reports are that no flights were negatively affected, since airline personnel worked as normal. BWIA’s corporate communication manager Dionne Ligoure confirmed that flights were not affected by the security guards’ action.

It added that “in order to maintain safe and secure airport operations and adequate security at all checkpoints the authority was forced to request the assistance of the Police Service and the Defence Force after the security officers failed to show up for work.”

According to the statement, “these negotiations to date have been cordial and there has been no breakdown,” adding that it hoped the officers would return to work soon.

EPA secretary Carolia Cadogan told a different story, however, saying many officers are yet to be paid outstanding increments dating back to 1992.