By Chantalé Fletcher
THE Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) is calling on the Government as owners of the Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL) to do what is legal and right to ensure workers get payments for their service.
Secretary-General of CWU Clyde Elder made this call in a live press conference on Tuesday after 41 workers were placed on the breadline. The company is closing down.
Elder said, “When companies wind up in Trinidad and Tobago, in accordance with the Companies Act, such a company is not obligated to make severance payments to their workers.”
Referring to ArcelorMittal which closed down, he said workers never received a single “red cent severance.”
Elder said a letter from the company indicated workers would receive payments up to January by March 1.
He added that some workers had received their payments while others had not.
Elder said he hoped and prayed that all monies would be sent and that at the end of March, salaries would be paid for March and February, as well as their gratuity in accordance with previously signed contracts.
He said EFCL was not designed as a company to make money.
The company was established under the Patrick Manning administration in 2005 to oversee the refurbishment and maintenance of schools and the textbook rental and lending programme.
Elder said when EFCL oversaw a project on behalf of the Government, it would take a long time to get paid which resulted in the company being in debt to creditors and contractors.
He added that even now, the Government has not been paying monies to EFCL to cover its debts and worst to pay salaries of workers, who did the jobs.
“Months would pass before the Government gives some kind of small monetary relief to EFCL to pay creditors and staff.”
Elder said that because of the Government’s inaction, EFCL had no choice but to close operations and its 41 workers were the ones to pay the ultimate price.
He said, “The board members were not employees of EFCL, they have incomes coming from other streams, so they don’t have to worry. Even the Government who owns EFCL, come today, come tomorrow, come next month, until they remain in office, they will have a salary to collect.”
Elder said that once the EFCL made the application to the High Court to commence bankruptcy proceedings under the law, no action legal or otherwise could be taken against the company.
He said, “This Cabinet under the PNM administration demonstrated they just don’t care about anybody excepting themselves and they continue to demonstrate that day after day, after day.”
Elder said there was no consequence for the Government’s actions.
“Had there been consequences for their actions and had we been in a properly developed country, this situation this morning could not have happened.”
He said that come April 1, 41 workers will have no clue of how they will look after their families.
“As the Government has created an economic situation which does not allow anybody to walk out from one job, into another let alone be dismissed from one job and walk in a next one.”
Elder said, “The workers of EFCL are still owed apart from their last six months salary, gratuity from their last contract and to date, most of them do not have a signed contract after the last one expired.
“Yet they have been terminated in accordance with their contract by giving one month’s notice.”
Elder warned citizens to stand up and say something.
“Let us come together now and demand that change for the benefit of our brothers and sisters. We are all in the same boat together, but we are not all suffering together, some of us seem to be living a very good life and we just don’t care.”
