Chamber slams OWTU for holding country to ransom

On Monday, OWTU president general, Ancel Roget, threatened to bring activities at Petrotrin to a standstill should it fail to adjust its wage offer of zero- zero-zero to a “reasonable” offer for the 2014- 2017 period.

“We are not prepared to waste time going backward and forward in any meeting, we are prepared to listen, we are prepared to have them respond and if their response is not satisfactory, we are prepared to shut the blasted place down,” Roget had stated.

In a strongly worded media release, Roopnarine, who did not identify the OWTU by name, wondered how Petrotrin would be able to pay for the wage increase and whether taxes would be increased to pay for the increased wages.

“If Petrotrin is running at a loss, who will pay for the increase in wages? Would it be the citizens by means of an increase in personal taxes or an increase in VAT? Would the business sector be faced with increased taxation to fund this increase? Would the Government continue to borrow? Would the management of Petrotrin send home workers in an attempt to fulfil salary obligations?” Roopnarine stated.

“When the nation needed you the most, you waited for Christmas, to use Christmas as your bargaining leverage, to launch your assault on this country. Individuals should not be able to hold this nation at ransom,” he added.

Roopnarine continued: “The future of this nation definitely lies in the school bags of our children, I pray that they do well and forgive us for the burden we are placing on them.” And regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Roopnarine observed that this would not only affect the business community but the entire population.

“Not only members of the chamber will be affected, but all individuals of Trinidad and Tobago,” he stated, and noted that the population had an expectation that politicians would possess the maturity to “put country first.” “This constant bickering by both sides always seem to distract from the serious business of running this economy at this perilous stage, where wages are being increased at the expense of the country. How can you increase wages at a time when the business sector is on the verge of a precipice, collapsing and falling, closing and some hoping for a miracle this Christmas,” he stated, adding, “sales could not get any worse.”