Casino workers knock ‘unelected Speaker’

The Union of Members Club and Lottery Workers says they have referred the ban of one its members from Parliament to their attorney for an opinion, and once advised, they will not hesitate to take Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George to court.

In a release yesterday, the group said they stand fully behind their member Maxine Gonzales and defended her right to freedom of expression. Gonzales was banned by the Speaker from Parliament until further notice due to her outburst during the contribution of Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West while the sitting of the Senate was held on Friday.

President of the Independent Fishermen Union of TT Robert Sagramsingh was similarly banned for shouting across the floor. The casino workers attended Parliament to highlight their concerns over the increased taxes on the gaming industry announced in the budget while the fishermen were concerned about the rise in diesel prices.

The group yesterday said Gonzales and other union members were thrown out of the Parliament “after emotionally reacting to the belligerent, persistent and uninformed position of the Government” regarding the taxes to be applied to the gaming industry.

“Comrade Maxine like so many others in the industry knows that this tax will be the death knell for many establishments and is extremely emotional about joining the job market in these economically challenging times. Overwhelmed with emotions, comrade Maxine in an act of desperation appealed to the Government senators to reconsider their heartless and callous position.”

The group said the Speaker and Senate President Christine Kangaloo did not afford Gonzales an opportunity to be heard “which natural justice demands” but instead imposed the ban on her from entering the Parliament again.

“What gives the Speaker jurisdiction over activities in the Senate? What gives the unelected Speaker of the House (the authority) to bar the population from entering the House of the People?” the group questioned.

In a statement on Friday announcing the ban on Gonzales and Sagramsingh, the Parliament cited section 6 (1) of the House of Representatives (Powers and Privileges) Act which states “The Speaker is hereby authorised to issue such orders as he may in his discretion consider necessary for the regulation of the admittance of strangers to the precincts of the House.”

The release also quoted standing order 123 which states “The Speaker shall be responsible for the general direction and control of the precincts of the Parliament.”

But the casino workers group said the Speaker “has begun along a very slippery slope by banning the people from the people’s chambers.

“This Government is now insulating itself from the very people who they claim to represent. This act of banning is one often found in undemocratic nations and as such weakens our democracy.”

The group pointed out in 2013 and under the last administration former minister Verna St Rose Greaves disrupted the Senate and was subsequently ejected but she was never banned and said there was a difference in treatment for the “disgruntled populace.”

The group said it in intends to continue to struggle to have the Government revisit the 100 per cent tax on the gaming industry.

“The repressive tax is a tax on equipment and not the owners. The tax will cause the owners to reduce the number of equipment and with the reduction of equipment will be the reduction of staff. The Government needs to appreciate this fact.”