No guards for TTPost

First vice-president of the EPA Curtis Robertson yesterday said 90 percent of officers were absent yesterday compared with 80 percent on Monday when the three-day prayer and fast began.

In an interview, he said south, central and east were most affected. He said the only area in which there was normalcy was Tobago.

Robertson said TTPost offices and government revenue offices were affected. He said schools in the east and south education divisions had no security. He said officers should be back out as normal tomorrow.

MTS guards are using the strategy of prayer and fasting to get management to alter its position regarding proposed increases for junior and senior officers. Robertson said the company tabled a proposal of a $1 increase for 2004-2007 for precepted and unprecepted officers and $2 for supervisors (corporals and sergeants). The EPA is asking for $15 for unprecepted officers (they currently get $9/$9.50 hourly) and $22 for precepted (they get $10.50), $28 for corporals (from $18) and $32 for sergeants (from $20).

Robertson said the EPA is waiting to hear from the company about resuming negotiations.

He hoped for “good sense” to prevail and that there would be a change when discussions resumed.

He said it would be an exercise in futility for both parties to return to the bargaining table without any movement in their positions. Robertson said officers would be monitoring what the company would do. He told Newsday he did not want to see action escalate.

Cpl Andy Dalip, MTS divisional manager security, said he was unable to provide figures for the officers absent but only nine percent of locations were affected compared with Monday when it was ten to 11 percent. He said a count of officers was still being done. Dalip said TTPost and government revenue offices were without guards but the majority of schools were manned. Police were sent to revenue offices.

While he did not want to disclose what the contingency plan was, he said it worked since the “net effect” of the action impacted on nine percent of places. Asked if officers were using sick leave to stay off the job, he said the company could not say there was a sick out.

Dalip said, “Not all the people staying away supported the call.” He said some officers were on legitimate leave. TTPost communications department confirmed that its City Gate and Chacon Street branches were closed because there were no guards.

In a release, the Education Ministry yesterday said there was no significant impact or interruption of operations at schools despite a reduction in the number of MTS guards at some schools.

The ministry said its safety officers turned out to man the schools.

The ministry also announced that Queen’s Royal College and Princes Town RC will reopen today for the new school term, and reopening on Monday will be the Maraval RC, St Francois Girls RC and Morvant-Laventille High School.