By Chantalé Fletcher
SCORES of trade union members from various groups marched through San Fernando for May Day celebrations on Saturday, for the first time in two years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
May Day, also known as International Worker’s Day is celebrated worldwide by the working class.
This year, the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) held the May Day procession under the theme, Unite to Fight. Trade union leaders sent out solidarity messages at the Oilfield Worker’s Trade Union (OWTU) headquarters in San Fernando.
Before members proceeded to Harris Promenade, Communication Workers Union (CWU) General Secretary Clyde Elder asked members “What will it take?”, as he reiterated many issues faced in the country from the recent Paria tragedy, fuel price increase and the retirees of TSTT and Petrotrin who struggled to live.
General Secretary of the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union Trevor Johnson, said T&T faced a serious pandemic, but it was not Covid-19 but that every institution in the country that was supposed to represent labour has been compromised.
Johnson described the Minister of Labour as the most silent and noted that Republic Bank recently offered employees ‘zero, zero, zero’ per cent yet it was about to declare over one billion dollars in profits.
He also noted the retrenchment of 150 Scotiabank workers after the bank declared three-quarters billion in profits a pandemic.
Johnson also warned employers to fix their business now before Labour Day otherwise the Joint Trade Union Movement would be prepared to act.
Fire Service Association’s deputy treasurer Deneen Mohammed revealed at least one-third of the fire stations in this country are unable to respond to emergencies.
Mohammed said, “We have a minister who went into Parliament and stated that there is no lack of resources in the Fire Service, there is no lack of appliances in the Fire Service.
“I am telling you, one day, you are going to call and there is going to be no appliance or vehicle to respond, and your house will be on fire.”
He said, “We are under attack in this country. What is it going to take for us to wake up?”
Mohammed said though fire officers cannot take industrial action, they would stand in solidarity with JTUM and everyone to continue to fight for workers’ rights, and most importantly the country.
The procession lead to Harris Promenade where JTUM President Ancel Roget addressed those on hand.
Roget said, “The streets are ours, we claim the streets. The streets are not for the elites, the politicians but for the struggling masses.”
He also called once again for the reversal of fuel price increases, an increase in the minimum wages for a proper living wage.
On the issue of the Government’s proposed increase of the pension age from 60 to 65 years,
Roget said,”We’re not waiting until 65 for those who are entitled to NIS at 60. You pay for it, you qualify for it when you reach 60, make sure you get your NIS.”
He said, “We are not going to make up for what they did with the corruption of the National Insurance Funds. We pay our money and when the time comes, we demand our NIS benefits.”
