Ex-transport minister stands by 2015 deal: Give port workers 12% increase

FORMER minister of transport Stephen Cadiz is criticising the government for failing to follow through on the wage increase agreed upon in 2015 for workers at the Port of Port of Spain.

He said the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) represented the port workers in a negotiation with the Port Authority of TT (PATT) and both parties agreed on a 12 per cent increase.

The government has refused to accept the agreement because the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) was not involved in the negotiations.

Cadiz, though, said he was never told the CPO needed to be a part of the negotiation and called on the government to honour the agreement.

“The PATT is a registered statutory business company that can negotiate its own agreements, of course, with the approval of the Minister of Finance.

“If the CPO had to be involved in a trade negotiation, that would have come out way up in front and someone would have said, ‘You all are not in a position to do this. It has to go through the chief personal officer.’

"That was not said!” Cadiz insisted.

He said the negotiations were more than just about wage increases.

He said the union and PATT also agreed to change the way in which some of the operations were being handled at the port to bring it more up to international standards.

“The wage negotiations at that time were being done in conjunction with a series of new port improvements.

“We could not, as an international port operate with old systems. We couldn't do it. Therefore, I think everybody was very happy that we were looking at getting that done. And we did get it done.”

Anisette told Newsday the agreement would have been beneficial to all parties.

“With the implementation of the 12 per cent, which was a component of the framework agreement, the port would have saved over $100 million (in overtime costs) from 2015 to now because we were eliminating overtime. Overtime payments are now 40 per cent of the port’s wage bill. That's a frightening figure in any industry.”

Cadiz recalled the signed agreement was commemorated at a function at the Hyatt, Port of Spain, the week before the 2015 general election.

“I'm very surprised now that they're coming, what, nearly ten years after to claim it isn’t valid. I was in my last week of office, so how come ten years later, you're now saying that they didn't have the CPO (at the negotiations) and the CPO didn’t sanction it?”

“I mean, come on. You're really picking at straws when you're doing that.”

Cadiz urged the government to meet with SWWTU president Michael Annisette and settle the issue.

“Sit down with the people, negotiate, and get this thing done. That is how we used to operate.

"If you have to get it done, you ask, ‘What is it going to take for us to get this done?’ Then you get it done! At the end of the day, I found Mr Annisette to be an extremely reasonable individual to deal with.”

The government’s refusal to accept the agreement has led to industrial action by the workers and disruptions in the port’s operations.

PATT has instead offered port workers a two per cent salary increase for the 2014 to 2017 period.

On November 13, PATT, in a letter to stakeholders, said operations at the port were limited with no load and discharge in the vessel operations area, and no receipt or delivery of full containers at the West Gate.

The port did not give the reason for the disruption but Newsday understands the operations were affected by low employee turnout.

This has occurred repeatedly since August as port workers continuously halt operations over the stalled wage negotiations along with complaints about unsanitary working conditions.

Also on November 13, the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the TT Manufacturers’ Association, the American Chamber of Commerce of TT, and the Energy Chamber of TT, in their first collective statement on the disruptions, warned, “(This situation) is leading to a national crisis, at a most inopportune time of the year when the volume of shipments is typically at its highest and makes it imperative that the port operates efficiently.”

They added, “The extensive delays at the port are negatively affecting port revenue; vessel bypasses; increased detention fees and haulage rates; delivery of raw materials for production; and the cost of production and of finished goods.”

On November 14, Newsday asked Annisette how long he expected the industrial action to continue and if it will be a weekly occurrence, but he claimed to be unaware of any industrial action on the port.

“I'm aware workers are frustrated. They feel betrayed and they believe that there is no respect that is being shown to them for the work that they do and no one is taking them on. And, therefore, there's a level of frustration. And frustration can lead to all kinds of actions.”

Annisette suggested the port worker employees would do what they felt was necessary to protect their jobs and ensure safe working conditions.

“If I'm concerned about something that has implications for the future of my job, implications for making the port non-competitive, and implications for the ordinary port worker, then am I not right to express my dissatisfaction and protest to protect my interest? Am I wrong in doing that?”