A deadlock in negotiations triggered protests by hundreds of workers at Lake Asphalt of T&T (1978) Ltd yesterday, forcing operations to grind to a halt. Vice president of the Contractors and General Workers Trade Union (CGWTU) Joseph Phillip said exports of bitumen and asphalt would be crippled if the company did not negotiate in good faith with the workers.
Around 9 am, the workers marched in front of the company’s headquarters where they called on Chief Personnel Officer Stephanie Lewis to give them their just due. Phillip said workers were calling for a 25 per cent general wage increase. “Our benchmark is nothing lower than 14 per cent. The company is offering only 12 per cent,” Phillip said, adding that workers had not benefited from a salary increase since 2011. He said the rising cost of living made life difficult for the weekly and monthly paid workers.
“Workers are very frustrated right now and we are withholding labour. It has been too long and we are making no apologies for what we are doing,” Phillip said. He said Cost of Living Allowance (Cola) was the main sticking point in the negotiations which took place last Friday.
“The company wants to eliminate the consolidation of Cola. That is the big issue in the negotiations. They want to separate Cola from our basic wage and we are not standing for that. When we check the maths, some workers will lose more than $20,000 if they eliminate consolidation of Cola,” Phillip said.
Currently, hourly paid workers are entitled to a Cola of $250 per week, while monthly paid get $432 per month. “The company don’t want Cola to be merged to your wages and what usually happens is you will get a lot less. Some will lose about $20,000 for the duration of this negotiations which is five years. They are trying to fool us in a smart way,” Phillip said.
He said that workers were extremely disappointed with the stalled negotiations and were willing to continue protests until their demands were met.
CEO responds
Contacted yesterday, CEO of Lake Asphalt Leary Hosein said the wage dispute had been forwarded to the Ministry of Labour.
“The negotiations between the company and the hourly/weekly branch of the union has stalled since the union has rejected all offers made by the company. The matter was referred to the Ministry of Labour by the union and it is in their hands. Negotiations are continuing with the other two branches, the junior staff and senior staff respectively. We have also commenced negotiations with the Estate Police Association,” Hosein said.
Asked what impact this was having on exports, Hosein said, “Impact should not be significant since this sort of action and time away from work has become the norm in recent times.” He said all offers made to the union were in keeping with the guidelines given by the CPO.