Tobagonians told: Leaders failed us

President General of the All Trinidad General Workers Trade Union (ATGWTU) Nirvan Maharaj yesterday called on labour to unite in order to ‘heal the country’.

Maharaj was at the time addressing hundreds of workers as they came together for the first historic Labour Day march which commenced in the vicinity of the Shaw Park Basketball Court and culminated at James Park, Scarborough yesterday.

“Labour must unite in a political way and challenge both the UNC and the PNM and tell them that enough is enough. There is absolutely no difference between politics and trade unionism because every single policy or programme implemented by a government that affects the working class, affects trade unions. It affects our members and therefore as trade unions we must become involved in politics,” he said.

The President General noted that one important question should be asked in going forward.

“How is it that a land as rich as ours, so wealthy in oil and gas, natural resources and a people so intelligent could descend into the realm, into the pit of corruption and nepotism, of crime and brutality never before experienced in this country. The answer to that question my brothers and sisters is that we the leaders of our society, we have failed our people because we have forgotten the lesson of the past, we have forgotten about patriotism, we have forgotten about nationalism, we have forgotten about country and love of country and what we have done is placed our personal interest and our organisational interests over the interest of our nation,” he said.

Maharaj said: “As long as we do that, our sons and daughters will continue to be slaughtered in the killing fields of Trinidad and Tobago, as long as we forget thousands will be retrenched, as long as we forget our children will continue to bully and beat each other in the streets, as long as we forget our children will continue to be abused and violated as our women are. We must put a stop to that.”

He said that the greatest asset of any nation is its people and the spirit of its people, adding when politicians attempt to break the spirit of a people and that spirit is broken then the nation faces its greatest danger. “Trade Unions must begin to educate us that no one has a divine right to your support because they look like you, they have to serve the divine interest of the country.

“When you were born, your birth paper never said that you have to vote the PNM or the UNC till you dead, you have freedom of choice. You are an intelligent people and you can choose. If you continue to allow yourselves to believe you are a PNM or a UNC until you dead, then your children will suffer, and your children’s’ children will suffer because the same cycle of abuse and disdain and contempt that they treat you with will continue,” the President General said.