Unionised labour under threat on port

THE EDITOR: Advertisements have been appearing for a general manager/CEO of the Port Authority.

According to the ads, this person will be “accountable for providing executive leadership in facilitating and delivering the organisation’s business strategies, goals and objectives” and be responsible for providing “strategic and transformational leadership.” Note the word transformational.

The Port Authority has control over four entities: the Port Authority governing unit; the Port of Port-of-Spain – the cargo handling unit; the Inter-island Transportation Company Ltd – the inter-island ferry service; Port of Spain Infrastructure Company – the landlord unit.

According to the Minister of Finance, the business strategies, goals and objectives of the port is to “rationalise by the end of fiscal 2021, the operations of the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago and to introduce a private sector operator into the port-handling operations.”

Therefore it is logical to assume that port handling operations, in the first instance, are going to be handed over to the private sector, back to the days when the big merchant houses and shipping firms controlled the port before the Port Authority Act 39 of 1961 was proclaimed on June 14, 1962, in the lead-up to independence.

So it seems the Government is looking for a hatchet man to manage the handing over of a critical publicly-owned facility to the eager claws of the one per cent. The port, therefore, needs to get rid of “all, all, all” port workers so that they can become non-unionised contractor workers like at Heritage; only this time the State is ceding ownership. The union claims 1,300 permanent jobs could be eliminated.

By the way, they are also advertising for a human resources manager to take charge of the elimination of unionised labour.

The IMF should be very happy. After all, in its 2018 Article IV Report it stated: “Urgent action is needed to increase efficiency and reduce labour rigidities in the public sector.” That is bureaucratic jargon for getting rid of unionised labour. Another one bites the dust. If we allow it.

GERRY KANGALEE

National Workers Union