Trinidad and Tobago ‘at boiling point’ says trade union leader
Ozzi Warwick, the head of the Joint Trade Union Movement, spoke to Socialist Worker
A Joint Trade Union Movement press conference in Trinidad and Tobago
By Yuri Prasad
Friday 06 December 2024
SOCIALIST WOREKER Issue
A huge wave of anger is gripping workers in the Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago. Unions are expecting thousands of people to join a mass demonstration outside prime minister Keith Rowley’s official residence on Saturday.
Fury at years of price rises, government-blocked pay increases and job cuts has exploded in a wave of strikes, picket lines and protests.
Dockers, and workers in the refinery, electricity, higher education and postal industries are all involved in battles over pay that in some cases date back almost ten years.
Workers’ anger only increased last week as the state awarded Rowley a 47.2 percent rise and over £115,000 backpay—100 times the monthly salary of a new teacher in the country.
“Things are at boiling point here,” Ozzi Warwick, the head of the Joint Trade Union Movement, told Socialist Worker. “The government is trying to drive the unions out while pursuing the worst neoliberal measures.
Ozzi described the way the government and employers have repeatedly used court injunctions to stop strikes and derail the unions. And, he says, the government is rolling back on its previous agreements with the unions.
But, he says, the threat of action has terrified the bosses. “All the employers are frightened,” he said. “All the different chambers of commerce have pressurised the government to put a stop to the strikes.
“Those court orders have had an effect. They stopped the docks strike, for example. But the anger remains. The dockers were angry at the decision and decided to press on with their work to rule action. And that has severely affected the port operation.”
Ozzi says news of the prime minister’s personal pay deal has galvanised people beyond the unions too. “This neoliberal government is headed by Trinidad’s equivalent of Margaret Thatcher,” he said, mocking Britain’s former Tory prime minister.
“Rowley has cut domestic fuel subsidies and increased electricity and water rates. That in turn has led to sharp increases in the prices of food, basic services and transport.
“At the same time, the country’s social support infrastructure is falling apart.”
The union leader points out that pharmacists no longer accept government medicine prescriptions because the state no longer pays them for dispensing them.
That means workers needing medicines have to pay privately—which can be incredibly expensive. Thousands of workers have been thrown out of their jobs, while Rowley has handed whole industries to the private sector.
“That’s why the demonstration on Saturday is going to be massive. There is so much anger from so many sections of society.”
And Ozzi says that the courts, by repeatedly ordering a halt to strikes, are pushing workers to take “matters into their own hands”.
Asked whether this could mean unofficial strikes, Ozzi replied, “Yes, we are coming to that point. Something has to give.”
A huge wave of anger is gripping workers in the Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago. Unions are expecting thousands of people to join a mass demonstration outside prime minister Keith Rowley’s official residence on Saturday.
Fury at years of price rises, government-blocked pay increases and job cuts has exploded in a wave of strikes, picket lines and protests.
Dockers, and workers in the refinery, electricity, higher education and postal industries are all involved in battles over pay that in some cases date back almost ten years.
Workers’ anger only increased last week as the state awarded Rowley a 47.2 percent rise and over £115,000 backpay—100 times the monthly salary of a new teacher in the country.
“Things are at boiling point here,” Ozzi Warwick, the head of the Joint Trade Union Movement, told Socialist Worker. “The government is trying to drive the unions out while pursuing the worst neoliberal measures.
Ozzi described the way the government and employers have repeatedly used court injunctions to stop strikes and derail the unions. And, he says, the government is rolling back on its previous agreements with the unions.
But, he says, the threat of action has terrified the bosses. “All the employers are frightened,” he said. “All the different chambers of commerce have pressurised the government to put a stop to the strikes.
“Those court orders have had an effect. They stopped the docks strike, for example. But the anger remains. The dockers were angry at the decision and decided to press on with their work to rule action. And that has severely affected the port operation.”
Ozzi says news of the prime minister’s personal pay deal has galvanised people beyond the unions too. “This neoliberal government is headed by Trinidad’s equivalent of Margaret Thatcher,” he said, mocking Britain’s former Tory prime minister.
“Rowley has cut domestic fuel subsidies and increased electricity and water rates. That in turn has led to sharp increases in the prices of food, basic services and transport.
“At the same time, the country’s social support infrastructure is falling apart.”
The union leader points out that pharmacists no longer accept government medicine prescriptions because the state no longer pays them for dispensing them.
That means workers needing medicines have to pay privately—which can be incredibly expensive. Thousands of workers have been thrown out of their jobs, while Rowley has handed whole industries to the private sector.
“That’s why the demonstration on Saturday is going to be massive. There is so much anger from so many sections of society.”
And Ozzi says that the courts, by repeatedly ordering a halt to strikes, are pushing workers to take “matters into their own hands”.
Asked whether this could mean unofficial strikes, Ozzi replied, “Yes, we are coming to that point. Something has to give.”
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