OWTU and Petrotrin talks stalled

The meeting, which was held at the Ministry of Labour’s St James Street, San Fernando offices, began at just after 2pm on Monday and ended at 2am on Tuesday.

In a telephone interview yesterday, OWTU chief education and research officer, Ozzi Warwick said Petrotrin had not budged from its zero-zero-zero percent offer for the six collective agreements which were being negotiated by the union.

He said company officials had informed union representatives, which included OWTU president general, Ancel Roget, that it would have to seek a “new mandate” from the Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Finance before an alternative offer could be made to the union.

Warwick observed that the OWTU was prepared to serve strike notice on the company should it fail to table a mutually acceptable proposal.

In a media release yesterday, Petrotrin, however, stated, “after several hours of discussion, parties reached agreement on a number of Articles. Parties signed a Memorandum of Agreement covering areas agreed to, as well as those items agreed to be deferred for further discussion.” “Parties have also agreed to meet at the Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development on 2016 December 22 at 4:00pm to continue discussions. Petrotrin reiterates its commitment to participating fully in this process as we continue to work with all our stakeholders to return the Company’s operations to a state of sustainability and profitability,” Petrotrin stated.

Conciliatory discussions are expected to resume at the Ministry of Labour’s San Fernando offices tomorrow at 4pm.