Labour and our sun shinny days

THE EDITOR: I can’t resist but share my wondering on just how the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance are going to handle the failing grade from the labour movement and, more importantly, the threat of strike by TTUTA if wage negotiations fail to be resumed.

The Minister of Finance has really boxed himself in. In his over-exuberance to declare economic turnaround, he may not have considered the Pandora’s box of unfulfilled wishes he was letting out.

So now the unions are armed with his own words of “sun shinny days” upon us.

And, having had their membership tighten belts for two years, they are coming for a piece of the sun.

Of course Winston Duke is not to be outdone. What wage related to productivity is that? The Prime Minister must be crazy to make such a suggestion under his watch. Seriously, I feel for both the Finance Minister and the PM.

The former sought to play politics (by launching a “good times” election campaign) with our fragile economics and has, unintentionally I am sure, set the stage for a heavy industrial relations price.

And in a rare moment the PM says the right thing for a change and comes under attack just because union leaders are in attack mode.

Interesting times are ahead. Imagine if all this energy could be channelled to developing a diversification plan to which all stakeholders could be energised to that single outcome. Ohhh the possibilities. At least I can dream.

INDERA SAGEWAN
, economist