Moonilal: Young undermining CAL negotiations

"Reckless and absurd," was how opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal described comments made about some Caribbean Airlines (CAL) pilots by Energy Minister Stuart Young.

Last weekend, 60 international and domestic flights were cancelled after 75 pilots called in sick, leaving thousands stranded.

The airline has since been granted an injunction by the Industrial Court to prevent a repeat of it.

CAL also said, "It is to be noted that the airline is currently in negotiations with the TT Airline Pilots Association (TALPA) over a collective agreement for the period 2015-2018."

During the opening ceremony of the Cascade Community Centre on Monday, Young said the incident bothered him and added that he believed it was related to entitlement.

He had said it struck him that there was a "complete shutdown of our national airline by a handful – a literal handful – of individuals who thought that was the way to treat not only the citizens of TT, but...a wide wide customer net of international travellers as well..."

Referring to the treasury as a "limited pot," he also said during recent campaigning ahead of the August 14 local government elections, he saw first-hand that "there are others who are in greater need of the state resources and the help and the assistance than some of those who are already living a life of entitlement."

In a press release on Tuesday, Moonilal said for Young to call pilots "entitled, while an eight-year-old collective agreement is still outstanding is highly irresponsible...

"Since Young is a senior minster, his unfortunate remarks reveal the government’s warped thinking and the pressure being put on CAL’s employees and management."

He said CAL employees have been living on 2015 salaries while the cost of living continues to increase.

"In addition, pilots and other airline workers are enduring poor working conditions, including being made to operate in intense heat or with equipment failure. They are often subjected to disrespect from certain CAL executives, including a senior human resources official."

This, he said, has made staff frustrated.

"The situation became more troubling with the decision to seek an ex-parte injunction against TALPA even though the bargaining body stressed that there was no worker strike," he added.

He said the Opposition is now calling on the government to instruct CAL's executive management to negotiate "in good faith...With a view to bringing a speedy settlement to the long-outstanding collective agreement.

"The management must also meet and treat on all the workplace issues, since security and safety are at stake."