Mc Leod calls for labour unity based on principle

Unity within the labour movement will not happen as long as there are corrupt elements, this according to President General of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), Errol Mc Leod. On Saturday, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago celebrated its 67th anniversary of Labour Day observance with rallies held at Fyzabad. The celebrations were divided with different bodies hosting their own events. From the platform, many of the unionists promised the thousands gathered that one day the Labour movement would be united with one major Labour Day event.

During his feature address at Charlie King Junction, Mc Leod said that he supported unity within the movement but not at any cost and added that his union, the OWTU, always wanted unity. “People are talking about unity, they want one Labour Federation, I want it too, we have always wanted it but I wish to state that as much as we want unity, we are not going to accept unity just for the sake of our saying that there is one federation, there is one labour movement and that we are all under one umbrella,” he noted. Mc Leod reassured the gathering that his union would not align with any corrupt elements or those affiliated with any of the country’s political parties.

“We will not have unity with the unprincipled, we will not argue with those who supports vagabonds, we will not have unity with those who are prepared to condone what is done corruptly against the people of Trinidad and Tobago —  it has to be unity on principle, it has to be a united labour movement that is free of the concerns of political parties,” he fervently stated. Also speaking at the Labour Day celebrations but this time under the umbrella of the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC), at Avocat Junction, President of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union (ATSGWTU), Rudranath Indarsingh called on the Government to treat the labour issues seriously.

“I am sending a message to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Minister of Labour to get their respective acts together and put the legislative agenda and labour laws that have to be reformed, in order, so that the working class would be able to gain development and to make it priority,” he said. He also called on the Government to honour its promises of lands to the workers of Caroni (1975) Limited saying that they will not surrender and are prepared for a very long battle in terms of any legal process to ensure that what is due to the sugar workers is given to them.