PATT denies it is still receiving aid from military personnel

KAY-MARIE FLETCHER

Senior Reporter

kay-marie.fletcher@guardian.co.tt

The Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) is denying claims made by port workers that it is still receiving aid from military personnel.

While trade unions continue to call for port officials to stop the use of military force to conduct activities done by civilian port workers, port authority chairman Colonel (retired) Lyle Alexander said the matter was “already closed.”

Alexander confirmed that members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) were called in to help after port workers staged a walkout weeks ago. Some workers staged a smaller protest outside the port this month as well. Workers have been protesting over several issues, including wage negotiations and health and safety concerns such as rats and pigeon droppings.

Workers were further upset after the TTDF were being used to offload containers. In a press release yesterday, the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) and the National Trade Union Centre of Trinidad and Tobago (NATUC) said this was “egregious violations of dockworkers’ rights.”

The union said the deployment of military personnel to offload cargo at the port has raised significant alarm among dockworkers, who view this as a direct threat to their jobs and a breach of their rights. SWWTU President General Michael Annisette also raised this issue while attending the 46th Congress of the International Transport Workers Federation in Morocco recently. However, Alexander told Guardian Media that members of the TTDF were called in for one purpose, but they are no longer at the port. He said that was a one-time occurrence. In addition to health and safety concerns, NATUC is also calling out the Government for its alleged “violation” of collective bargaining agreements. In the release, the union said the Government had undermined the collective bargaining process by failing to honour a 12 per cent wage agreement negotiated for the period 2014 to 2017. Instead, the union said PATT had been directed to pay only two per cent, disregarding the mutually agreed terms.

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