THE heads of the protective services’ associations in Trinidad and Tobago reject the calls for mandatory vaccination of Government workers from January.
On Sunday, members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police, Prison and Fire Services held an emergency meeting to discuss the consequences of non-compliance of vaccinations from mid-January, 2022.
This meeting came one day after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowely’s conference on Saturday when he announced that the public sector would fall under the safe zone policy and any employee who refused to comply would remain at home, but without pay.
The associations stated, “We are not in support of any constructive mandatory vaccination, as we deemed it the same as mandatory vaccination.
“According to President of the Industrial Court, Deborah Thomas-Felix, the varying of terms and conditions of Employment without consultation is illegal and goes against all established industrial relations practices/laws.”
They added, “Every person has the constitutional right to the enjoyment of property and for workers that is their salaries. The announcement threatens to violate those rights, which we utterly reject.
“We have deemed the action to impose a ‘quasi safe zone’ work environment as being discriminatory against the Protective Services given our daily functions with the general public and prisoners, who are not conditioned to such mandates.”
The protective services and by extension the essential services have been steadfast in their duties during the pandemic, while other public officers enjoy the luxury of being at home. Immediate steps should be taken to appropriately compensate these workers.
The associations stated, “Collectively, as the bargaining bodies for members of the protective services, we will continue to defend the interest of our members and have always sought consultation with the prime minister, minister of national security and Government. Nevertheless, we will not allow our members’ constitutional rights to be trampled upon.”
