By Chantalé Fletcher
THE Contractors and General Workers Trade Union (CAGWTU) is condemning Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for using a public meeting to disclose a cabinet decision on the future of Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago (1978) Limited (LATT).
In a release on Thursday, CAGWTU described this as an act of disrespect for the workers’ representative, who communicated with the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young with responsibility for Lake Asphalt, by letter dated March 8, 2022.
CAGWTU said Young responded by letter dated March 22 with no mention being made of this cabinet decision.
However, on Tuesday, Dr Rowley announced at a PNM public Meeting in Diego Martin cabinet has placed a committee in place with the National Infrastructure Development Company Limited (NIDCO) acting as the operating agency to create a new business model for LATT and therefore make it sustainable. NIDCO falls under the purview of the Ministry of Works and Transport.
The union stated, “Further Young whilst indicating he looked forward to communicating with the union in the not-too-distant future, did not commit himself to any timeline to meet with the union to discuss as requested, amongst other things, the job security of our members and the future viability of LATT (1978) Limited.”
“Based on the pronouncement at the public meeting we are unfortunately left to conclude that Minister Young’s response to the Union was less than candid, clothed in deception and a clever use of words to play smart with foolishness.”
The union expressed concerns that as a key stakeholder in the Company, decisions were being made about the future of the Company without any consultation with them, as the Recognized Majority Union for the Senior Staff, Junior Staff and Hourly/ Weekly paid workers of the Company.
Workers of LATT have undergone severe trauma for quite some time.
The union said, “Their job security and their lives are in disarray whilst the Government by its actions is showing utter disregard for all the basic principles of Industrial Relations and good and proper governance and employment practices as it relates to treating workers’ issues and engagement with the Recognised Majority Union.”
Therefore, CAGWTU has called on the relevant Minister with responsibility for LATT Limited to immediately engage the Union in discussions about the current status of the company, job security of the workers, payment of ongoing salaries, and plans for future viability and sustainability of the Company.
