The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has accused the Government of attacking workers on all fronts following the retrenchment of 119 administrators assigned to the On-The-Job (OJT) programme which falls under the Ministry of Labour.
CWU President John Julien promised to battle with the Government for their reinstatement and ensure they received money owed to them.
Addressing some of the workers and the media during a press conference at the Cipriani College of Labour and Co-Operative Studies, Valsayn yesterday, Julien said the rationale used to retrench the workers was baseless and without merit.
Workers from Port-of-Spain, Chaguanas and San Fernando learned of their fate only last Friday, after being directed to collect their cheques at the College. Julien said while all 119 persons were paid, there was a huge discrepancy regarding the severance benefits.
He said that prior to the 2015 general election, the workers should have been considered for permanent appointments.
Failing this, Julien said, when the People’s National Movement (PNM) assumed office, some workers were allowed to continue working according to their existing terms and conditions while three-year contracts were awarded to new employees entering the system for the period 2015 to 2018.
The retrenched workers included clerks, administrative assistants, payroll personnel, human resource specialists and employment organisers.
Julien said the workers were responsible for the placement and payment of the over 4,000 OJT employees that were currently in the system.
Julien said similar situations had been taking place involving workers at Tourism Development Company, Caroni Green Ltd and the Government Human Resource Services Company Limited (GHRS).
He said the latest group of workers was informed in February that there was going to be a reorganisation detailing the roles, functions and responsibilities of employees and that staff would be reduced.
Julien said this was not the case, as all 119 workers received termination letters and were told to reapply for work.
He accused the Minister of Labour Jennifer Baptiste-Primus of delivering a death sentence to the workers. He said while the job titles had been changed, the scope and functions of work had remained the same thereby highlighting the fact that the posts had not been made redundant.
Pointing to the huge gaps in the payment of severance benefits, Julien said persons who had been offered contracts after the PNM assumed office in 2015, had their contracts bought out to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He said those workers would have been paid more than $150,000 each, while employees who had been working for close to eight years and more had only received one year’s severance in varying amounts but not exceeding $30,000 in some of the cases.
He demanded an urgent meeting with Baptiste-Primus to clarify the issues that had arisen.
Julien said the union was prepared to follow the necessary procedures before the matter reached the Industrial Court.
CWU’s Ag Secretary General, Clyde Elder, described the situation as “disheartening” as he said Government had been imploring the private sector to explore other ways of generating revenue and reducing costs, instead of retrenching workers.
He said the Government was not following this advice as they seemed hell-bent on sending workers home every time they had a chance.
