Mark tells govt: Don't halt CPO negotiations

Opposition Senator Wade Mark is calling on government to lift the halt on collective bargaining and wage negotiations with Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Daryl Dindial.

In Parliament last Wednesday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the government would not entertain negotiations with unions because of the state of the economy.

Imbert was responding to a question by Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe during the Standing Finance Committee meeting on allocations for the Personnel Department of the Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation.

During a press conference on Sunday at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Charles Street, Port of Spain, Mark said, “This is wrong and the Industrial Relations Act is very clear, there is a collective barging in process and it involves arriving at a collective agreement and the employer cannot unilaterally withdraw from this exercise.

“The Minister of Finance said they are withdrawing. They are not giving any direction or instruction to the CPO to meet with the public sector, period. So what are we to do and workers are still working on 2010 salaries and wages and paying 2020 prices. That cannot be fair.

"Are we going back to jungle politics and trade union acting? So the government is wrong in this matter and I call on the Minister of Finance to give instructions to the CPO to get around the bargaining table and begin negotiating with trade unions. That is the law.”