Blind retired worker in six-year wait for gratuity

“Up until now the Association has not given me a dime,” Baptiste told Newsday yesterday from the Port-of-Spain-based office of the TTBWA where he threatened to stay until he is given some assurance about his dues.

“I talking to (Executive Officer) Mr Kenneth Surratt regularly about my money. He said that the ministry has to send over the money. He is telling me that I will get my money and I ain’t get no money,” he said.

“He told me that he has not heard from the ministry. I asked him to call the ministry. I am not leaving the office until I get something positive from him. It is up to them if they lock me up in here,” he said.

Frustrated at the long wait, Baptiste said, “Nobody knows what is going through my mind now.” He said he has a teenage daughter in school whose welfare he has to look after. All his savings, he said, are depleted.

Contacted on Baptiste’s plight, Surratt said that the TTBWA has been representing Baptiste’s cause to the Ministry of Social Development and Family Affairs. Baptiste was not the only former employee who is seeking gratuity, he said.

There are about three others.

The Association, he said, receives a subvention from Government and was not into income generation. Surratt said that the TTBWA has calculated Baptiste’s gratuity and last August submitted the request for the payment to the ministry but has had no response since.

“We could only pay when we get the approval and the money from the ministry to make the payout,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said, that he gave Baptiste a cheque yesterday representing “back pay” for the last period that he worked under the collective bargaining arrangement that the TTBWA has entered into.