Restore timely negotiations

THE EDITOR: The Estate Police Association (EPA) remains concerned that the unresolved negotiation periods stretching from 2014-2016 and 2016-2019 to the still-pending 2020-2025/26 cycle continue to undermine the credibility of the national industrial relations system. When negotiations occur years after the fact, wage settlements lose their real value, and the purpose of collective bargaining is weakened.

Late settlements push employees to focus on back pay instead of improvements in their standard of living, as inflation steadily erodes the benefit they were supposed to receive in the correct period. Expired negotiation cycles also limit the ability of both parties to make meaningful, material changes to the collective agreement.

Once a period has already passed and the “lived realities” are long gone, it becomes extremely difficult to fix deficiencies or introduce improvements that were urgently needed at the time. This ultimately harms both workers and the employer.

The consequences are clearly seen at the National Maintenance Training and Security Company, where years of delays may result in officers receiving no increase at all for the estate constables, which leaves their basic wage at the same level of the security officers who do not have precepts issued by the Commissioner of Police, and minimal increases for the supervisors.

Successive minimum wage adjustments have already overtaken what earlier wage proposals might have offered. While some may claim that workers “got increases,” the minimum wage is only a protective floor, not an assessment of the true skill, responsibility, or risk carried by officers.

Across state companies and statutory bodies, job evaluations that should scientifically determine the value of these roles remain an issue. Employers, meaning the state, instead continue using outdated assessments that fail to match modern duties and expectations.

Late negotiations also create massive back pay obligations, burdening the state and complicating long-term budgeting. Timely settlements, however, allow for responsible financial planning and ensure workers receive increases when they actually matter.

The EPA has focused on proposals to settle all outstanding periods. We have done our part. It is now the state’s responsibility to honour the collective bargaining process, return negotiations to their proper time frames, and restore real value to the nation’s estate police officers.

DERYCK RICHARDSON

president, Estate Police

Association of TT