Trade unions meet with Opposition ahead of budget

Representatives of the trade unions met with the opposition United National Congress (UNC) on Friday to share their recommendations with the political party ahead of Monday's budget.

Speaking after the meeting at the office of the leader of the opposition on Charles Street, Port of Spain, JTUM general secretary Ozzi Warwick said the meeting followed an invitation by the Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to submit their recommendations ahead of the budget presentation.

He said JTUM's recommendations were also sent to the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

Chief among the unions' recommendations are an increase in the minimum wage, a decrease in fuel prices, leaving the retirement age at 60 and forgoing the implementation of the property tax.

These are the demands which were first expressed during Labour Day celebrations. Then, JTUM's president Ancel Roget called for the minimum wage to be increased to $30 per hour from its current $17.50. However, UNC Senator Wade Mark said while both entities agreed on an increase, they held differing views on what that figure should be.

Warwick said while this was the first such meeting between the organisations, it won't be the last.

"TT is in crisis and in order to bring us out of this crisis we cannot have isolated struggles and therefore we have agreed that this talk will not be a one-off talk but we will have follow-up discussions which will include both the leader of the opposition Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar as well as the president of the Joint Trade Union Movement," he said.

"We feel that it is important to continue these discussions in the interest of TT because if we do not have those discussions then TT can continue to spiral downwards, reaching to a point where there is no return."

Both Persad-Bissessar and Roget were absent from the meeting on Friday. The recommendations were complied by JTUM, the National Trade Union Centre and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs.

During the local government election campaign earlier this year, JTUM aligned itself with the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ).

However, the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union's (OWTU) Point-a-Pierre branch supported the UNC candidates in San Fernando. Roget denied claims the unions abandoned the MSJ. He said with the MSJ only contesting three districts, the unions would do what is necessary to defeat the People's National Movement.