225 workers benefit after —

LOCAL confectionery giant KC and the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers’ Trade Union (ATSGWTU) signed a three-year wage agreement last week which ensured their 225 employees receive a “sweet” 11 percent wage increase over the next three years.

The increase will be one percent each in the first and second years and nine percent in the third year, said a company official who spoke with Newsday yesterday. The three-year period runs from April 28, 2004 to April 27, 2007.

Since the agreement was backdated to April 28, 2004, employees will receive back pay which would be prepared within the next month, the official added.

The $20 million loss sustained by the Couva-based company as a result of a major fire at its processing plant and storage facility, played a part in the final agreement, union officials said.

COLA is fixed on a hourly basis, meal allowances were upgraded and consideration was given to paternity leave, union president Rudy Indarsingh pointed out.

He called on the company to work with the union towards promoting the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) which was recently passed in Parliament and to create an environment in which employees would be motivated to increase productivity. KC CEO Imran Khan said the company always had an efficient health and safety plan in place, and in fact, was well-known for its safety drills.

He thanked the union for its approach in the wage negotiations saying: “our workers’ well-being is important since we want to be on the front burner in the candy business in the country and maintain our international obligation to our overseas clients.”