TCL workers protest

UPDATED:

Scores of Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) workers staged an early morning prayer meeting and protest to denounce plans by the company to retrench workers.

Workers are claiming the company is imposing a wave of redundancies as its method of retrenchment to the workforce.

At just after 6.25am, workers, most of whom were dressed in the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) trademark blue t-shirts, formed a semi-circle and joined hands to seek God’s intervention in the industrial dispute.

Speaking with reporters afterwards, OWTU branch president Ahmad Mohammed said out of a workforce of 300, between 80 and 100 workers had been identified as being “redundant” although foreign workers were being “imported” to perform the same tasks.

“We are here this morning essentially invoking the name of God to come to our aid and highlight our plight which is to highlight the atrocities that have been imposed upon us as Trinidad workers working under the CEMEX giant where we are seeing different rules being applied to workers,” Mohammed said.

“This company under its new management is now imposing a wave of redundancies/ slash retrenchment to our workforce. Such notices are being sent to our union and workers are being none the wiser.” He said workers at all levels, from senior staffers and engineers to plant attendants, had been identified for retrenchment and the company also refused to meet with the union to discuss the situation.

Mohammed said workers had given up approximately 20 per cent of their earnings in 2014 as the company was reportedly in dire financial straits at that time.

“We have an MOA (memorandum of agreement) in giving up 20 per cent of legitimate earnings that they would have worked for since 2014 to now and that MOA would have been signed off as an interim measure. But now workers are actually facing threats to be sent home under old rates, rates that are really five years old, and we are in 2018 and the company is bluntly refusing to sign off this MOA with the union.”

He said protest action was expected to intensify over the coming weeks should TCL fail to meet the union.

TCL management officials were unavailable for comment.