OWTU warns of strike action

Roget made the announcement at a press conference held yesterday outside of the Eric Williams Finance Building, Independence Square .

To media, Roget said, “If the Petrotrin management comes back and says there is nothing for the workers, at the appropriate time legally available to us we will serve and effect strike action on the Petroleum Company of TT without fail.” His statements were made prior to a meeting scheduled to be held today with the Labour Ministry on the negotiations. The company, he said, was asked to go to the Finance Minister and come back with a reasonable response. Pending this response the union would act accordingly .

“Tomorrow afternoon we have a meeting set with the Ministry of Labour in San Fernando where the company was asked to go to the said Minister of Finance and come back with a reasonable response .

We do not want the whole pie. We do not want half of the pie, quarter of the pie but for heaven’s sake, we having contributed to baking that pie we will not accept no pie for us,” Roget declared .

Roget did not want to disclose the exact date of the strike action but he also promised if Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, raised gas prices, “we are going to mobilise for a national shut down in TT.” Roget said that the Chief Personnel Officer’s (CPO) offer of zero, zero, zero-which came from the Finance Minister, would not be accepted by the union .

He recalled Minister Imbert’s statement at the November International Monetary Fund (IMF) forum in which Imbert said the Government was exercising wage restraint and its offer of zero, zero, zero was a starting point for 2017 negotiations .

Imbert, Roget said, was imposing IMF conditionality on the country