T&T: Seven weeks and counting

Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s wish for the resumption of construction at Atlantic LNG Train’s IV plant did not come to pass yesterday, as workers stayed off the job at the start of the seventh week of strike action at the Point Fortin site.

Workers gathered at the strike camp from 7 am for a briefing with their leaders, Ernest Thompson and Alwyn Noel.
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He said they decided, in a united position, not to return to work yesterday until all their grievances, chief of which is a pay hike, were addressed.

Thompson, who met Manning with a group of labour leaders at Whitehall last Thursday, again offered support to former Labour Minister Lawrence Achong, who has been championing the workers’ cause throughout.

Achong resigned his Cabinet post just over a week ago, after Government decided against implementing a $28 an hour minimum which he had proposed for the energy sector.