T&T: Labor strife in sugar and oil

In the sugar industry, sugar workers are making waves.

The Trinidad Islandwide Cane Farmers Association (TICFA) has issued the government an ultimatum, demanding that either the "farmers are allowed to take the lead role in resuscitating the [sugar] industry or government shuts it down and pays off the farmers".

The sugar industry in T&T is not likely to survive because the industry is badly run; the government has been pouring money down this hole for decades. T&T can purchase sugar more cheaply from Guyana, which will result in lower shelf prices.

Meanwhile, unrest is still bubbling in LNG and oil

Police yesterday arrested seven men at the campsite of striking sub contractors employees working on the expansion of the Atlantic LNG plant at Point Fortin. Three of the men later alleged they were beaten by police.

But police officials said they were not aware of anyone being beaten.
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Lennox Ronnie, 42, of Gerard Street, New Village; Angus Prince, 37, Warden Road; Milton Quammie, 48, of Reyes Street; Reynold Cato, 19, of Concrete Trace; brothers David, 31, and Kerwin Williams, 18, of Hollywood Road and Paul Sylvester, 20 of Warden Road, pleaded guilty .
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Back at the campsite, workers representative, Ernest Thompson, said the men were not only wrongfully arrested but claimed that three of them were beaten by police. David Williams, who was not employed on the Train Four expansion, said he was beaten and suffered a cut on his chin. He told the Express said he went to the campsite to call one of the workers when the police arrived. Cato and Rennie claimed that they too came in for blows from the officers.

T&T police are well known for liking to dispense body music. Whether or not these men have been beaten is still up for debate; meantime, public opinion in T&T is likely to side with the men. It's all about reputation, guards. Police have to learn to police themselves when nobody is looking.

Also

At Point Fortin, police spent several hours early in the morning, ridding roads of debris, which was said to have been thrown by striking workers at the liquid natural gas plant Train Four, and which hampered motorists. They arrested seven men for preventing the free flow of traffic (See separate story).

The workers, who are employed by sub-contractors, have been on strike for the past month for higher wages.

Their spokesman, Ernest Thompson, said they were not satisfied with Prime Minister Patrick Manning's handling of the situation and charged that the Government was allowing ALNG to "exploit workers and treat then with no respect".

He slammed newspaper reports that the lowest hourly rate paid by Bechtel was $25.40. "Foremen are he only people who get $25 an hour. The lowest rate now is $18," he said.

ALNG's manager Public/Government Affairs Esther Le Gendre explained how the hourly rate was calculated. "The basic rate is $18 an hour and $2.80 is added to that sum as a safety bonus. The workers are also paid $140 each week as a fringe benefit. But this amount is paid after the end of the work stint," she said.

At least one area is quiet.

At Point Lisas, tug operators employed with PLIPWIJS will meet company officials at the Ministry of Labour on Monday morning. PLIPWIJS is a joint venture company between Dutch firm Svitzer and Plipdeco (Point lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation Limited).

Rawle Baddaloo, vice-president of PLIPDECO, said the workers had reported for work and ships were berthing "as usual".

The Express was told that PLIPDECO and its workers' representatives had also started negotiations for the period 2004-2007 and were expected to meet next week to continue discussions.

And at Pointe-a-Pierre some 150 temporary workers at State-owned Petrotrin continued protest action outside the company's refinery gates yesterday morning.

Prices are way too high in T&T for workers to be earning these miserably stingy wages. At $25 an hour, the foreman at LNG earns approximately $4 USD.