The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union is signalling its intention to raise hell in T&T to ensure plans to restructure the Petroleum Company (Petrotrin) are implemented to ensure it becomes more profitable.
This was indicated by president general of the union, Ancel Roget, during an interview with reporters following yesterday’s two-hour meeting with Energy Minister Franklin Khan at his office at Tower C, International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.
He said the union presented two plans—the Trinmar “Quick Wins” Plan and the Petrotrin Organisation Structure —to Khan.
The “Quick Wins” Plan listed measures to increase production which included major maintenance initiatives. Roget said once those measures were addressed there could be increased production.
He said Khan “liked the presentation. He embraced it. He said that they are going to be talking with the board and the management to put structures and mechanism in place to have the country realise the benefit of that increase production.”
The company’s crude oil production had reduced significantly in the past years and Roget said consequently, “we are in dire need of ramping up that production urgently and it cries out for the type of management” to attain that objective.
He said many of the managers still at the company were friends of the former UNC government and should be removed to allow for more efficient management of the State- owned company.
Roget said the various sections of Petrotrin should be broken up or separated to allow for better focus of the core objectives. He also said the plan called for a significant increase in crude oil production at Trinmar “without any major capital injection.”
On the other issue of the restructuring of the company, Roget said the existing arrangement was contributing to a lack of productivity at the company with duplication and wastage. He said the OWTU proposed that “Petrotrin ought to be urgently restructured. It ought to be broken up into manageable segments.”
He added: “As a matter of urgency, we prevailed upon the minister that Petrotrin ought to be restructured. Trinmar ought to go separate. Refining and Marketing Division ought to go separate so that we could have the sharp focus in each area so the country can benefit.”
He said the plan had the support of the majority of workers.
Roget insisted Petrotrin was “suffering from a management problem.” He insisted the plan could pay for the expected wage increases for the workers.
He said Khan was reminded that new collective agreements were outstanding for the periods 2011-14 and 2014-17.
He said failure to address that issue could result in immediate protest action.
“We are prepared to hit the streets if it comes to that next week to ensure that attention is paid to this issue.
“We are prepared to call strike action if that becomes necessary to bring attention to this critical issue.”
Roget said, however, t it was not the first option of the OWTU.