Petrotrin says letters to be given out by Oct 15

Head of Petrotrin’s transition team Lisa Ali says the company intends to distribute termination letters to its 5,000-plus employees by October 15.

Two new successor companies – the Exploration and Production (E&P) company and Trading and Terminal Operations company – are expected to be launched today (October 13) with full operations expected to begin on December 1.

OWTU chief education and research officer Ozzi Warwick described Petrotrin’s action as a “rush,” saying workers who are covered under the collective bargaining agreement were told not to collect their termination letters.

“They have been instructed not to collect. Why collect when the substantive matter is still to be heard on Thursday (in the Court of Appeal)?”

On Wednesday night, Justice of Appeal Charmaine Pemberton granted a stay of an Industrial Court injunction against the company which restricted it from termination more employees and even issuing voluntary separation letters.

In an interview, Ali said employees should be given their termination letters over the next few days, while advertisements for positions in the new companies are expected to begin on Sunday.

“In the next few days, we want to ensure that all employees are handed their termination letters, and that means (give) them the letter in person, they are able to look at it, they are able to understand it.

"The intent is to have all letters distributed by the 15th of October.The intent is to give employees 45 days’ notice, which therefore means their last day of work as a Petrotrin employee would be November 30."