LABOUR MINISTRY DANCE

Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s insistence that Lawrence Achong is still Minister of Labour because he has not yet accepted his resignation, while correct under the Constitution, is a view apparently not shared by Achong. However, should the strike of construction workers at Atlantic LNG’s Train Four end on Monday without Achong officially advising the Prime Minister and intimating to the country that he had withdrawn his resignation, then the question of whether he goes or stays may become irrelevant. Achong would cease to be an emotional rallying point for the Train IV construction workers. In turn, his stand could no longer be exploited by trade union leaders hoping to shut down the country and with it gain questionable political points.

Achong tendered his resignation as Labour Minister on March 12 to express his dissatisfaction with, among other things, the Prime Minister’s refusal to follow through on his 2002 General Election promise to introduce a Minimum Sectoral Wage for workers in the energy-based construction industry. Achong’s resignation taking place at the height of a strike by Train IV construction workers and amid threats by some labour leaders, piggy backing on the strike, to shut down the country, has provoked national concern. Should Achong withdraw his resignation and this can be effectively linked as a condition to a settlement of the industrial dispute and the promise of a Sectoral Minimum Wage then he becomes a hero of sorts to the workers. This would, undoubtedly, strengthen the constituency of his ruling Party, the People’s National Movement, while, ironically, postponing any challenge to Patrick Manning’s leadership of the Party, which Achong had signalled a few days ago.

Should he not withdraw the resignation letter, and the industrial action is ended following on the Train Four workers receiving or being convinced that they would receive a minimum wage plus benefits acceptable to them, Achong may find himself out in the proverbial cold. The Prime Minister is correct when he says that Achong, because he has not accepted his resignation, is still Minister of Labour. Admittedly, it is a technicality, but section 77:3C of the Constitution says: “A Minister other than the Prime Minister shall vacate his office — where his appointment is revoked by the President acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.” Achong’s Cabinet appointment has not been revoked!

Section 81, however, requires that, “The Prime Minister shall keep the President fully informed concerning the general conduct of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and shall furnish the President with such information as he may request with respect to any particular matter relating to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.” We may never know, but we wonder aloud whether the President inquired as to Achong’s resignation letter, and his subsequent publicly voiced criticisms of the Government of which, as a result of Manning’s inaction, he remains a member? In turn, will Minister Achong be paid for the time that, technically speaking, he has been off the job?