Braving possible arrest, retrenched ArcelorMittal worker Christopher Boodram yesterday sat on the road with scores of his colleagues, blocking vehicles as he spoke to his elder sister on the phone about his decision to fight the decision.
He and other workers blocked the Point Lisas roundabout, Couva, before dawn hoping to trigger enough economic losses to force the Government to intervene in their struggle against the multinational which closed down operations last month and declared bankruptcy without paying pension and severance benefits to 644 workers.
“We not getting the attention we deserve. Even if they arrest me, I am fighting for a cause,” Boodram was overheard saying on the phone to his sister, Nadia Mohammed, as the police waited for them to get off the road shortly after 6 am.
Traffic backed up as far as Marabella on the Southern Main Road and along the Rivulet Road towards the Solomon Hochoy Highway. For more than an hour workers were unable to get access to the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.
In an interview afterwards Boodram said: “While I was sitting there I had in the back of my mind that I could be arrested. I was not afraid but I was preparing myself to be arrested because life is not the same since I lost my job.”
Boodram said his younger sister, Vanessa, and his 16-year-old nephew, Codell Lendore, depended on him for support.
“Bills have to be paid and since ArcelorMittal closed down I have started doing construction work to make ends meet,” Boodram said. The 29-year-old former field operator said it was unfair that the Government was not standing up for the workers.
Meanwhile, Christopher Henry, president of the Steel Workers Union of T&T, said he found it suspicious that the Government was not helping the retrenched workers by passing legislation retroactively to ensure that ArcelorMittal paid the severance benefits and pension.
Saying pension was the workers’ own deferred income, Henry called on Prime Minister Keith Rowley and Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus to look at the legislation and pass an amendment which would ensure the company paid the workers, many of whom had worked over 30 and 40 years.
“Now that they are in their twilight years and may not get another job elsewhere, they need their pensions. The closure of this company will have a serious social impact,” Henry said.
He said Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and Douglas Mendes were looking into the matter.
“We are awaiting their decision about what to do,” Henry said.
Saying he felt betrayed by the PNM Government, Henry said: “Citizens expect the sitting government to protect them because these are the same citizens who put them in power. We will continue to raise our concerns even if nothing happens.”
“These multi-national companies think they can come in here and do anything in a sovereign state. We have to put a stop to this. We want Finance Minister Colm Imbert to meet with us. We want to know why they are not holding ArcelorMittal to account for what they did to workers,” Henry said.
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On March 10, ArcelorMittal informed its workers, via letter, that the company would be closing its operations in Trinidad and terminated their employment with immediate effect. During meetings with the union, company executives claimed the steel giant was bankrupt and operating while under a $1.3 billion debt.
A day before its closure, the union was successful in a court matter against the company for laying off workers in December and again in February. ArcelorMittal was ordered to pay the workers compensation. However, the company filed for insolvency.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert subsequently disclosed that the company’s debt was closer to $3 billion.