T&TEC responds to OWTU complaint: Return of full workforce is necessary

THE Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) is contending that the return of the full workforce is necessary as the rotation measure is affecting the reliability of its service.

It also dismissed the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) claim that this could be a "superspreader" of covid19 as "fearmongering."

The OWTU said the return of the full workforce could endanger both the workers and public,but the electricity company contended that as an essential service provider it has a responsibility to continue to serve the public throughout the pandemic.

In a statement, the commission said in an effort to safeguard employees and members of the public, it had instituted several measures to reduce the risk of the spread of the virus.

“These included significant infrastructural upgrades to create physical distancing, the implementation of new and revised health and safety policies, the provision of necessary PPE for all employees and the implementation of a rigorous sanitization schedule in all buildings.”

The commission has also partnered with the ministries of Health and Public Utilities to host several internal vaccination drives.

It acknowledged the introduction of a system for rotating field and office workers and staggering arrival and departure times.

Saying it had made every effort to provide a reliable supply of electricity with staff on rotation, T&TEC contended, “This is untenable in the long term and has started to impact on reliability.

“Unfortunately, maintenance work cannot be deferred indefinitely as this will eventually manifest as a major problem such as a significant widespread outage. In order to complete deferred critical maintenance work on the grid and ensure that reliability continues over the coming months, T&TEC has decided that all office employees will return to work on August 3 and all field employees on August 5.”

It said the return had already been delayed by a week at the request of the OWTU at a meeting to discuss the resumption of normal work.

The OWTU said while it had no objection to the return of the full workforce, it has to be done on a phased basis. President general of the union Ancel Roget objected to the company's unilateral decision to scrap the rotation system, especially at a time when, he said, the delta variant of covid19 is present and numbers of covid 19 deaths and cases were still high.

In the circumstance, Roget said, the return of the full workforce had the ability to become a superspreader as emergency crews responded to calls from homes and businesses

The company chided the union for this perspective.

“It is regrettable that the OWTU would choose to resort to fearmongering among the public with imagined instances of a superspreader site developing and the possibility of employees taking the virus to customers.

Since April 2020, it said, T&TEC had put guidelines in place for employees "to eliminate interaction with members of the public on the field. Guidelines are also in place to govern how crews work together safely, to minimize their risk of exposure.”

It said since May, T&TEC has organised six vaccination drives for employees, but only 30 per cent had taken up this opportunity.

There are approximately 2800 T&TEC employees, some of whom have been vaccinated outside of the commission's efforts.

Roget could not say what percentage of the workers have been vaccinated to date, but denied any vaccination hesitancy. He said like other members of the public, T&TEC workers also had concerns about particular vaccine brands.

The commission said it is continuing to hold dialogue with the OWTU to encourage its members to take all opportunities available to be vaccinated, as it is proven that vaccinated people are better protected from the worst effects of the virus.

It stressed, “T&TEC remains ever mindful of the safety of its employees and its customers and will continue to do all that is necessary to ensure that it can provide a high-quality, safe and reliable supply of electricity to the public, while reducing the spread of covid19.”