PSA boss backs UNC: Workers can't survive another PNM term

PUBLIC Service Association (PSA) president Felisha Thomas has thrown her support behind the United National Congress (UNC) as she claimed workers cannot survive five more years under the current People's National Movement (PNM) government.

Thomas made a shocking appearance on stage at a UNC campaign meeting at Northeastern College in Sangre Grande, on March 29, where she emphasised the struggles of workers.

She believes under the PNM, workers have been mistreated and there have been widespread job losses, wage stagnation and the government has failed to address workers' rights and benefits.

“I am honoured to mount this platform in the interest of workers, to openly advance the only reasonable response to an unreasonable government which has used and abused workers – workers, demonised, criticised, lied on and falsely accused them,”

According to the PSA website, the union represents over 80,000 workers from more than 100 public service sectors nationwide.

Thomas said her primary goal after becoming PSA president on March 11 was to remove the government from office.

“Workers in this country must be free from dictatorship, oppression and tyranny – they must be free from the PNM.”

She said the government has done nothing to advance the welfare of working-class citizens and people are struggling to take care of their families.

“The PNM has starved workers of the resources they need to do their jobs. For the PNM, inefficiency means job loss. Anywhere you hear the word 'retrenchment', you’ll find the PNM right behind it.”

She said there have been significant job losses across various sectors. In 2003, she said approximately 9,000 workers from Caroni were laid off. In 2006, 1,800 employees from British West Indian Airways (BWIA) lost their jobs.

Thomas said the Tourism Development Company in 2017 had 111 workers retrenched and in 2016, 644 employees from Ansa McAl were let go. She added 500 workers in 2018 from Telecommunication Services of TT lost their jobs. That same year, another retrenchment at Petrotrin saw 5,500 workers facing job losses as part of restructuring efforts.

She said the education sector wasn't spared either, as 200 workers from the University of Trinidad and Tobago were retrenched in 2019 and in 2022, an additional 468 workers were let go.

“These are just a few examples. They say they love you, yet this is how they take care of you.”

She also criticised the government's handling of wages, pointing out a four per cent salary increase over six years while she claimed food inflation hit 64 per cent, but said government officials received a 47 per cent increase.

Thomas said failure to consolidate the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) led to workers losing $51.3 million in back pay.

Thomas further accused the government of threatening over 2,100 jobs in the Board of Inland Revenue Customs and Excise Division, as well as an additional 5,000 jobs in the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA).

“They've threatened over 500 jobs in the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and refused to fill vacancies. They denied workers permanent employment and refused to implement the nine per cent settlement for National Insurance Board workers.”

However, she stressed there is a rising sun on the horizon with the UNC. “We must take charge of our destiny and act on our responsibility to ensure a future for our children, which deeply resonates with me as a first-time mother.”

Thomas urged the public to examine the UNC's commitments to workers, saying, “This relationship didn't start when the election bell rings. Another five more years of the PNM, workers will not survive.”

She said the UNC has committed to negotiations beginning with no less than a ten per cent increase,

“The UNC has pledged to shelve the PNM’s WASA Cabinet Subcommittee report. But the question remains: will they deliver on these promises? Let me remind you, the last settlement workers received was under the UNC. The UNC understands a fair settlement wouldn’t break the treasury.”

Thomas said under UNC, over 146 negotiations were settled within one term, while, in the last ten years, none has been resolved.

“Hundreds of vacancies remain unfilled, but during the UNC’s time in government, over 55,000 jobs were created. Workers flourished.”