The T&T Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) says it will be disappointed if transnational corporations copied ArcelorMittal, pulling up stakes and throwing their workers on the breadline.
Speaking to the Sunday Guardian, TTMA president Dr Rolph Balgobin said, “The association feels that T&T over the years has been very generous to the steel company in terms of concessions given and the support that it had been given in gas and electricity prices.
“What is particularly worrying was how the country has been treated and in particular how the workers had been dealt with.
“We would also be disappointed if other companies followed suit in this manner to cut losses. It is a fact of global business, however, it boils down to money. If they pull out and not meet basic obligations to workers is what we’re very concerned about.”
When asked how many workers could the manufacturing sector absorb, he said in the recent past the sector had thousands of vacancies available.
Balgobin said it was not a question of simply hiring people who had just been laid off, but also a matter of the skills of the displaced workers.
He said there must be a match between the skill sets the sector has a shortage of and the skills that were now becoming available.
Balgobin said to this end, the association was prepared to work with workers if their skills could be used in the manufacturing sector.
In a release, the TTMA invited the 644 dismissed ArcelorMittal workers to explore new jobs in the manufacturing sector by using its Web site http://ttma-careers.com
The release stated that affected people seeking employment may also register with the TTMA careers Web site so that their skills may be searched for by employers who may not have jobs posted but were nonetheless looking for skilled citizens.
The TTMA also proposed a collaboration with the State for a job fair in the near future so that displaced employees will be aware of employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector.
The association was prepared to work with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to assist displaced people.
Balgobin said T&T’s workforce had a major productivity problem which was unfortunately reinforced by archaic and dysfunctional industrial arrangements which created an unnatural dichotomy of interests between labour and management which should not exist.
Balgobin said the two groups’ interests should be aligned, since a healthy company, whether private organisation or state enterprise, was better able to sustain good wages and good working conditions.
He said this problem of productivity damages businesses which in turn damages what labour can get from business.
Balgobin said he expected as the economic climate grew tighter and work became more scarce some elements of the workforce would pay closer attention to the jobs they currently hold, as alternatives for employment may not be as plentiful as in the past.
• See Pages A10, A11