Tobago's Labour Day march to begin from Gulf City Mall

Hayden Duke, PSA’s industrial relations officer, Tobago region, has said workers on the island are gearing up for the Labour Day march on Sunday.

The march, which is expected to begin at the Gulf City Mall, Lowlands, from 9 am, will see participants walking along the Claude Noel Highway onto Orange Hill Road and along Milford Road to the Scarborough Esplanade.

There, Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union president general Michael Annisette and other trade-union officials are expected to address a rally.

Duke said, “We will be sending a signal to the government about the disenchantment we are experiencing now, as against what we would have put out in terms of production over the past two years.”

Alluding to Chief Personnel Officer Dr Daryl Dindial’s two per cent wage offer for the period 2014-2021, Duke said over the past two years of the covid19 pandemic, public servants have worked.

“We did not just sit idly by to be offered nothing. In trying times, we have been asked to work in conditions that were less than favourable, but we have worked and produced. So we are not taking that (two per cent).”

As a precursor to Sunday’s observance, PSA president Leroy Baptiste met on Tuesday with Water and Sewerage Authority employees at Movie Towne, Lowlands, to listen to their concerns.

On May 27, 2022, hundreds of public servants, led by the heads of their respective trade unions, marched through Port of Spain to protest the CPO’s wage offer. Union leaders have described the offer as “insulting.”

The CPO met with representatives of the police Social and Welfare Association (TTPSWA) on Monday in an effort to better the government’s two per cent offer. TTPSWA officials said they were pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

Dindial is expected to meet with representatives of the Fire Services Association on June 15.