Retrenchment is not a cheap and simple process and it is not currently being discussed at Guardian Media Limited (GML), newly appointed managing director Lucio Mesquita said yesterday.
Speaking at the signing of as new collective agreement between GML and the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU) at Kam Po Restaurant, Chaguanas, Mesquita said: “I am happy that we have an agreement that was settled in the interest of everyone. We have a lot of work to do in terms of what we offer to audiences in T&T.
“No company lays people off without thinking hard about it. It is not a simple and cheap process. If it happens it is because of conditions that a company cannot avoid but we are not talking about that at the moment.”
The new agreement, which covers the period January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2016, includes a base increase of 11 per cent, a six per cent increase in allowances and a new Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) of $140.
Mesquita, who has been in the position for a month, said the media group has to look beyond the T&T market in the future.
“There is also a potential for us to tap into the digital world—operations that do not need boundaries, or how far you go with the paper. There is a huge diaspora of Trinbagonians everywhere in the world, particularly in Britain, Canada and the United States,” he said.
BIGWU labour relations officer Wesley Francis praised GML chairman Grenfell Kissoon, who acted as managing director until Mesquita’s appointment last month, for his astute leadership in intervening and settling with the union when the matter was before the Industrial Court.
“There were concessions on both sides but we arrived at signing of the collective agreement. Kudos go out to Mr Kissoon,” he said.
Francis said it was commendable, given the economic downturn in the country, that GML had not embarked on retrenchment.
“I hope that it remains so and that we can engage in discussion to avert that likelihood,” he said.