Another union follows TTUTA, accepts 5%

ANOTHER trade union – the Amalgamated Workers Union – has followed the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers' Association (TTUTA) and accepted government’s offer of a five per cent salary increase.

This was confirmed in a press release on April 22 which said the deal was signed by Chief Personnel Officer Dr Daryl Dindial and the Amalgamated Workers Union as the collective agreement for the five per cent salary increase which covers the period 2020-2022.

Apart from the salary increase, the deal includes consolidation of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) effective October 1, 2023 and other market rate based salary adjustments.

Dindial, the release said, commended Amalgamated president Michael Prentice and the union's executive for the "measured" leadership and responsible decision-making on behalf of their membership. Dindial noted that their willingness to engage constructively resulted in the acceptance of the offer.

Amalgamated's acceptance came days after TTUTA also announced that it had accepted a similar offer made by the CPO on behalf of the government.

Dindial expressed his gratitude to city corporation workers for their unwavering dedication to duty.

He acknowledged that these workers are often on the frontlines of service ensuring clean streets, functional public spaces and essential sanitation across communities. He said their work though often done behind the scenes, was fundamental to the daily comfort, health and safety of citizens.

ROGET MUM ON TTUTA

Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) leader Ancel Roget said he had no comment to make on TTUTA's decision to accept the five per cent wage increase.

Asked, during a walkabout in Point Fortin on April 22, about TTUTA's acceptance of the CPO's offer, Roget said, "They (TTUTA) and their membership will have to deal with that. As of now, we are focused. We are staying away from that type of bacchanal."

He said the OWTU will comment on that issue at the appropriate time. Roget said the unions which are part of the UNC's coalition of interests remain focused on campaigning and winning the general election.

In a statement on April 18, the CPO said TTUTA accepted this offer for the period 2020-2023. The statement said the deal was sweetened by an improvement in other terms and conditions.

TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin said at that time, “It is 29 per cent closure of the gap. Four per cent in the first year, 11 per cent in the second year and 18 per cent in the third year. So we do not disclose in terms of percentage increases, but we look at what is the closure of the market gap as it relates to the labour market.”

Asked about the timing of this agreement given the UNC’s promise of a ten per cent increase for public servants, Lum Kin said TTUTA’s general council faced a deadline and felt it prudent to accept the CPO's offer.

Explaining the rationale for accepting the deal now, mere days before the election, Lum Kin said in an earlier Newsday report, “The CPO said if by today we did not sign, then the deal we would have hammered out with the personnel department would have been off the table. We also do not know what could take place after April 28."

He said these uncertainties had TTUTA's general council very uneasy and that was why they took what was on the CPO's table.