Duke: Time for working class in Parliament

PUBLIC Services Association (PSA) president Waston Duke says if the Government and Opposition do not resolve the outstanding PSA issues in three months the working class will get their voices into the Parliament.

He was speaking with the media Tuesday during a rooftop bonfire at the PSA headquarters, Port of Spain.  The bonfire was made of t-shirts and newspaper set ablaze in a steel oil drum.

Duke said the protest was to represent the hundreds of thousands of workers in this country in both the private and public sector.

"Because the governance of this country, whether it be PNM or UNC, is not working for us. They make their plans for Mr Big and Mrs Big and whenever they do their plans...(it is) for them and for their pockets to grow."

He said the political parties want workers to remain the "working poor."

"So today we have burned the red (PNM) because the red at this point in time are the perpetrators of evil upon the working class. They are the authors, they are the architects or our demise."

He said 30,000 workers have lost their jobs and he has experienced the call of a mother unable to pay her rent or put food on the table.

"We are tired of that. But what we are tired of also is the UNC who sit in Parliament and they do nothing but give backchats. That's all they do in Parliament – give backchats. Where is the leadership?"

He questioned if the UNC cared about the working class why the party did not put thousands of people on the street to march for better salaries.

"They have so many lawyers in the UNC, why don't they do us a favour and give us some free attorneys. They too are ruled by the special elite called the ruling class."

He said in the next three months he will be going around the country and seeking people of good repute to challenge the political system.

"If we could find 41 people from the 80,000 that we represent we are going to challenge them – win, lose or draw. We must have people with which we can vote. We must have some people that could articulate our views in the Parliament."