Make wage case for all workers, Roget

OWTU workers get salaries that are higher than government (the largest single employer) workers. What is the basis of the increase being demanded? In the days of plenty when oil prices were high you could have justified wage increases. Now that the company is running at a loss, shouldn’t the workers share in part of the blame? If you are making a case for a fair wage then you should not be so myopic and instead make a case for all workers nationally who have to subsist on crumbs.

I am certain that over the years you would have noticed that wage increases in the energy sector set the tone for higher prices.

The level of remuneration of oil workers can withstand the price increases. Can workers in other sectors of the economy shoulder such load? Wage increases serve only to pauperise the population. The figures go up but the purchasing power goes down. Businesses take the opportunity to increase prices by a percentage higher than the wage increases.

A union as powerful as the OWTU should also be more responsible and look at the larger picture and ensure that the population gets a fair share of the national pie.

Strive for increases in “real income” enabling the population to achieve a higher standard of living. Or are you concerned only with the workers under your purview and of course your salary and perks? Days of the confrontational approach of trade unionism is outdated.

Note how the world is tending towards contract work and the helplessness of unions in stemming the tide.

Unions, in negotiating for an increase, should always consider the level of prosperity of the business they are bargaining with. This would require of the experts in the unions to monitor and analyse the trends of the appropriate income statements and balance sheet. This will safeguard the workers against the “steel mill ambush”.

Negotiations should never be conducted on feelings on what the union thinks the company can agree on. It should be objective.

Roget, oil workers benefit twice from oil revenue: once as wage increase and when the revenue is spent on the general economy. Do not present a case as if oil workers live hand to mouth.

Running a business is another strategy the union can use to negotiate.

This experience will help the union appreciate having to run a business to make a profit or reduce a loss; adopt cost-cutting measures; freeze wages and undertaking other activities that businesses employ to stay afloat or maintain a certain profit margin.

Do not be like some businesses that benefit in times of prosperity and when the chips are down try to maintain their profit margins at all cost.

Let us all share the burden of the downturn and rally knowing that better days are coming.

Lennox Francis Couva