Danger of over-pricing our labour

THE EDITOR: Given what happened with the recent strike action at Atlantic LNG it appears the private sector is going to be the next target for the marauding union boys. Watch out, businessmen! After the Point Fortin episode, with the flames being fanned by a Government official, the unions are now smelling blood, and appear hellbent on pushing wage increases to the higher extremes, even outside of the energy sector, regardless of the wider economic issues facing the general population. If the Government and corporate leaders can’t guard against dangerous increases in wage levels, particularly in the manufacturing sector, we in Trinidad and Tobago could end up hurting our own cause, in that, we could be simply overpricing our labour in an extremely competitive capital intensive international marketplace.

Blessed with a vibrant labour force, political stability and a strategic geographic location, Trinidad and Tobago is the preferred destination for foreign investors in the region, and we will always attract large corporations in the energy sector but cheap labour in Central America and further afield in the Far East will always be a challenge to our manufacturing sector. Thankfully, our manufacturers are leaders in the region, with thousand and thousands of jobs depending on the innovation of our business leaders.  All the good work and frugal management could come to nothing though, with these union leaders seeking to unsettle the balance, gain their narrow political ambitions, and to perform their sickening real-life dramas before television cameras.

Outside the Carib Brewery, as was the case in Point Fortin recently, the “Union Boys” are prepared to go to any lengths to have their way, even if it means killing the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg. Already the envy of other employees in the manufacturing sector, the Carib workers, in the circumstances, could have done much worse than accepting the Company’s 12 percent wage offer. This is no joke: A forklift driver at Carib Brewery would be earning over $5,000 per month with this increase. A Forklift Driver Watch out my people . . . watch out my!

GLENN MEDINA
Claxton Bay