Roget warns - Strike could spread

IOCL is one of several contractors retained to provide marine transport service for Petrotrin’s Trinmar Marine Operations at Point Fortin. The OWTU is the recognised bargaining body for the contract workers. Speaking after workers downed tools and assembled at a strike camp outside the IOCL’s Otaheite Industrial Park, South Oropouche, Roget said one of the major issues at stake, in addition to adequate pay packages for workers, was the lack of proper management at Petrotrin .

“We have been trying to tell Petrotrin’s management to take proactive action to ensure that the contractor resolves these issues, but they took a hands-off approach and that meant, for the union, seeking justice for the workers and that is to withhold their labour,” Roget said, adding, “they are well within the law to withhold their labour at this point in the negotiations to ensure that a settlement is reached and they have 90 days to do that.” “In fact, we wish to warn that that would spread throughout the company’s operations because you cannot have a management doing what they want, doing like the last management, in some sort of cosy arrangement with the contractor,” he said. Roget continued: “We intend to serve strike notice on Petrotrin also and shut the company down until we get proper management in place,” he said .

PETROTRIN’S FUTURE IN DOUBT In an immediate response, Petrotrin stated that its future as a viable State enterprise may be under threat due to the strike action .

“Petrotrin’s continued efforts to maintain production and meet its financial and operational obligations to its employees and its Shareholder are being hindered by the strike action taken by the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) against Inland Offshore Contractors Limited (IOCL), one of the main contractors providing marine transport to Petrotrin’s Trinmar Operations,” Petrotrin stated, and noted that the strike action was based on a breakdown of negotiations between IOCL and the OWTU which included conciliatory sessions at the Ministry of Labour .

“This strike is causing serious disruptions to our operations even beyond our TRINMAR operations and can have major effects on our workers’ ability to access our marine installations in order to meet our production and maintenance objectives .

Reliable and efficient transport is critical to ensuring our effectiveness in servicing our offshore installations,” Petrotrin added .

“Unplanned disruptions, whether from employees or service providers, are therefore totally unacceptable,” the company stated adding that the situation was being monitoring with contingency measures implemented to limit the negative impact of these disruptions .

“At this critical juncture, as Petrotrin’s operations are subjected to intense scrutiny from stakeholders including our insurers, bondholders, credit rating agencies and the Shareholder among others, any approach other than to maximize operations presents a serious threat to our future as a sustainable entity,” the company noted .

Meanwhile, Roget pointed out that while the union was prepared to work to increase oil production up, said the company, by its actions had proved that it was not willing to work with the union to increase production .

The last time strike action was initiated by the OWTU was against Trinidad Cement Limited in 2012 and which lasted the full 90 days .