Too early for Minister Sinanan to declare victory in port dispute

Given the time of the year, and the importance of the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) in delivering cargo to this country, the decision by the Industrial Court on Tuesday to grant the authority an injunction restraining the port’s workers from continuing their industrial action was not unexpected.

Speaking after the Industrial Court’s ruling, Minister of Works and Transport, Rohan Sinanan, declared that the injunction was a victory. “It is a victory for the business community, for the reputation of the Port of Port-of-Spain, and for doing business in Trinidad and Tobago. It is also a victory for the workers at the port because we are acting in the best interest of all stakeholders, including the workers.”

As an experienced businessman before he entered politics, Mr Sinanan ought to know better than to declare victory at the first stage of what may be a long battle. He should know that what the Government applied for was an interim order for an ex parte injunction and that the representative trade union, the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU), is expected to be heard on December 6.

And the minister ought not to proclaim that the Government is acting on behalf of the workers at the Port of Port-of-Spain. As the minister with responsibility for the Port Authority, Mr Sinanan must realise he is representing the interests of the Government.

He should leave the SWWTU to speak for, and on behalf of the port workers. At the heart of the discontent of the Port Authority’s workers is that they have been without a wage increase for the last decade.

The SWWTU claims that a previous commitment was given to the trade union that the port workers would receive a 12 per cent wage increase for the period 2014 to 2019.

The trade union’s contention is disputed by Minister Sinanan, who claims that such a wage increase was not approved by the chief personnel officer (CPO), the government official who is responsible for negotiating the compensation packages of state companies.

A significant aspect of the issue at the Port Authority, and elsewhere in the state sector, is that the CPO has been given firm instructions by the Government not to approve negotiations for collective agreements at more than four per cent for the 2014 to 2019 period.

This leaves the board of the Port Authority, which was established in June 1962 as a statutory authority, in a quandary: They have instructions not to go beyond four per cent in negotiations with a trade union that insists it is entitled to a 12 per cent and with workers who seem to be unhappy.

The reality is that if the port agrees to 12 per cent, all other trade unions in the country that represent workers in the state sector will demand 12 per cent.

The Minister of Finance has made it clear that the country’s economic circumstances do not allow him to offer workers in the state sector more than the five per cent he announced in the 2025 budget would apply to the three-year period, 2020 to 2022. And that offer is only open to trade unions that accepted the previous four per cent offer.

Without a salary adjustment for a decade, the port workers deserve some empathy as they have had to contend with rising prices and a declining standard of living.

The post Too early for Minister Sinanan to declare victory in port dispute first appeared on CNC3.