Saying massa days are over, OWTU’s president general, Ancel Roget, yesterday criticised the Government for not standing up to multinational corporations which he claimed were shamelessly using T&T for its natural resources.
Speaking at the annual May Day march held at Harris Promenade, San Fernando, Roget said the Government should be thankful to the trade union movement for leveraging against multi-national corporations. He made no apologies for his recent comments that bpTT should pack up its rig and go after announcing it will no longer be constructing its Angelin rig in Trinidad.
“I will say it ten times, if you have no respect for the sovereignty of Republic T&T, then pack up your rig and go,” Roget said to loud applause. Het also told supporters that he did not care if people did not like him.
“If you are a multinational corporation and you come to our shores, you must respect the laws of sovereign T&T! We demand respect. It is only us, the workers, who will stand up in defence of sovereign T&T, not the government. In fact the Government should thank the OWTU because they cannot leverage against these multi-nationals. They are bankrupt of ideas and they do not understand that the multinationals are using them,” Roget said.
He said the business elite was holding the country to ransom by using the Government to pursue private gain.“It is the working class who turns the wheels of the economy. They want to hoard all our resources at the expense of the working people of T&T. We support the national economy and we demand the type of respect that all workers deserve,” Roget said.
Speaking directly to “UNC and PNM sycophants,” Roget said, “I don’t care one hell about any one of them. I have no fear of any sycophant. I have no respect for none because you will go against your own interest because of your party. “
Lamenting the worsening crime situation, Roget added, “Crime has gotten out of hand and as a Government you cannot protect us. You failed to protect us.”
He also said that agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Authority and the Environmental Management Authority had failed the people of T&T.
Meanwhile, president of the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) Joseph Remy said property tax was hypocrisy at its highest level. Accusing the Government of selling the patrimony of T&T, Remy called for unity of the working class and an end to privatisation.
