Trinidad benches trade unions

Trade union leaders gearing for a national strike against the Persad-Bissessar administration said Wednesday they had been refused permission by the authorities to stage a public demonstration and meeting in Tobago.

The Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM), which has claimed that the current state of emergency is geared towards stifling its plans for the national strike in protest at the government's decision to impose a five per cent wage cap on negotiations within the public service, said as a result they will be meeting with the Tobago members during working hours.

While the current state of emergency covers both islands, Tobago is exempted from the five-hour curfew that was extended to several areas on Trinidad effective Tuesday.

Head of the Banking Insurance and General Workers' Union, Vincent Caberra, said the unions recently tried to stage an indoor meeting in Tobago, but were also denied permission.

"Under this state of emergency, everybody seems to be jumpy and excited. The trade unions in Trinidad and Tobago all have branches in Tobago, and we will simply be visiting our branches tomorrow (Thursday) because they denied us the right to have a public meeting.

"Our next step was to have an indoor meeting but we were not able to get written permission, and we did not want people to show up and then some security person asking where is your permission and that sort of thing.

"So we are simply going to be visiting our branches (in Tobago)," said Caberra, one of the spokespersons for the JTUM.

He warned that nothing would prevent the trade unions from mobilising to secure better conditions for its members whether in Trinidad or Tobago.

"We continue to mobilise our membership, and the politicians have said that the state of emergency is not aimed at trade union activity, so let us see if theory contradicts practice or the other way around," he added.

The government has repeatedly denied that the state of emergency was aimed at curbing the activities of the trade union.