Shortest strike in history

The morning had dawned with an air of expectancy following word overnight that the union had failed to arrive at an agreement following marathon discussions at the Ministry of Labour and at the Industrial Court on Sunday.

From as early as 8 am and under a scorching early morning sun, workers began exiting the sprawling Pointe-a- Pierre oil refinery and began congregating at the Pointe-a-Pierre roundabout, Pointea- Pierre, with several taking up positions at a tent which was erected just outside of the gates leading to the refinery.

By 11am, heavily armed police officers arrived and took up positions just inside of the main gates leading to Petrotrin’s administration building while, just across the road, more and more workers began assembling at the refinery’s canteen building in preparation for a mass walkout of the refinery.

The refinery itself loomed silent as there were no puffs of steam emanating from the lines while the gas flares were noticeably absent as the various plants seemed to be taken offline.

By 12 noon, a union officer, using a microphone, addressed workers saying the union had been offered three percent and negotiations were still continuing with the company.

Then at just after 3pm, the union officer, once again using the microphone, addressed workers and began by saying, “today is definitely a good day for us.” And without indicating the settlement amount, he said a signing of the terms of settlement with the company would shortly take place.

By 4pm workers who had spent most of the day awaiting word from the union, began trickling away from the roundabout while steam was seen emanating from the steam lines in preparation for the full start-up of the various plants while gas flares were observed from the gas stacks