UNC calls for labour law reform

THE United National Congress is calling for labour reform measures, including a comprehensive revision of the Industrial Relations Act, a comprehensive overhaul of the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act including the establishment of a severance fund regime, a basic conditions of work regime, and sexual harassment legislation, and more under the International Labour Organisation's principles of tripartism.

Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in a Labour Day message said as TT marked the 82nd anniversary of the Butler Oilfield Riots and strikes on June 19, 1937, which ushered in the modern trade union movement, the country still faced economic uncertainty.

She said with almost four years under the PNM, TT has seen a consistent betrayal and brutalisation of workers.

"Today we are marking Labour Day in a time of increasing economic uncertainty and are faced with the troubling fact that the country is being led by a plutocratic government that has failed its citizens, and has no strategy or plan to deal with the issues that confront our nation. Today the people of TT are under open assault by an absolutely and hopelessly incompetent government which has virtually declared war on the working class and masses of ordinary people in favour of the economic elite."

She said the Dr Keith Rowley administration has presided over the loss of some 50,000 jobs, plunging thousands of families into poverty. She added many workers, including those in the mass layoffs at Petrotrin and TSTT, remained uncertain about their future.

Persad-Bissessar said there was no longer any balance at the Industrial Court, as Government had shifted the balance of forces in favour of the employers at the expense of the working class.

She said the PNM has failed to deliver on a single commitment made in the Joint Memorandum of Understanding signed with the labour movement before September 2015 and its manifesto.

The Opposition leader said the National Insurance System (NIS) seemed to be in financial trouble, while the Occupational Safety and Health Agency was severely understaffed, and Government has failed to settle negotiations for public servants and daily rated employees for the periods 2013-2015 and 2016-2019.

She said the newly amended NIS Act exempting Venezuelan migrants from paying NIS deductions provided an incentive for employers to hire migrants in favour of local labour, as the employers will not have to pay NIS either.

"This PNM has presided over a collapse in the collective bargaining process and they are yet to state their position on the minimum wage or bring amendments to vital labour legislation which was promised since the closure of Arcelor Mittal and Centrin.

"While citizens are struggling to make ends meet," she charged, "they chose to push forward legislation to enhance their own pensions. Instead of serving the people, they are serving themselves."

**Just In*