The Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) is insisting the business community pays the alleged billions in tax revenue and workers not be asked to bear the burden of economic adjustment in the country.
This is according to president of JTUM, Ancel Roget, who is also the president general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU).
JTUM met with Finance Minister Colm Imbert at his office at the Eric Williams Financial Complex yesterday as he prepared for Monday’s national budget.
After the meeting Roget told reporters discussions centered on ensuring there was industrial peace in the country to allow for economic prosperity in the country.
“We are very concerned about who bears the brunt of the burden of adjustment and that was the tenet of the discussion.
“We will not accept any business community at all coming and asking that workers bear the brunt of adjustment while they continue to go free with their vast profit margins. We will not accept that,” he added.
He said there was need to stop the wastage and inefficiencies, which included “persons in top managerial positions in various revenue-earning state enterprises that are not performing and we have to deal with them.”
He said once that was done and productivity was increased “this country will be able to mitigate the storm that is coming which has to deal with the international financial crisis.”
Apart from Roget, other leaders who attended the meeting included the president of the Banking, Industrial and General Workers Union Vincent Cabrera and president of the Sheep and Goat Farmers' Association Shiraz Khan.
Roget said based on all the challenges facing the country “we need to have industrial peace and stability (and) there is a need to have levels of equity throughout the economy.”
He said the level of productivity must increase in the country and it was not only about working harder but about not having to experience the horrendous transport problem on a daily basis.
Roget said the leaders told Imbert about “the need to investigate and root out those corrupt officials who are heading state enterprises and who are only about mischief.”
He said the discussion with Imbert was fruitful, adding that the minister requested a list of the outstanding collective agreements.
He insisted settlement of those negotiations was critical to industrial peace in the country.
Roget said the workers expected the issue of financial allocation for the resolution of those negotiations would be addressed in the budget.