TT government appeals to patriots

The Trinidad and Tobago government has called on citizens to choose their country over self-interest.

In a full page advertisement targeting the trade unions planning a national strike, the Persad-Bissessar administration said that as it seeks to chart a course of economic prosperity for all citizens, "the search for sustainable industrial peace continues to be a primary objective of this government".

The trade union leaders who have warned that the national strike "will come like a thief in the night" have accused the government of betrayal and want it to remove a five per cent cap on wage negotiations within the public sector.

The unions have since embarked on a nationwide mobilisation campaign and have warned citizens to ensure that they stock up on consumer items, including matches and candles, since the strike would also involve the workers at the electricity company.

The government has denied imposing a five per cent wage cap and following discussions with 19 trade union leaders last week, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said that the unions must go back to the negotiation table which has been "wiped clean".

In the advertisement, the government appealed for Trinidadians to consider "the economic welfare of our nation first, not out in the streets, but at the table of reconciliation and compromise".

The coalition People's Partnership government said that international rating agencies, such as Standard and Poor's and Moody's Investors Services, have given the country high marks for dealing with the risks associated with the global economic crisis.

It said Trinidad has been implementing measures that have maintained the positive outlook for the country and that it was "somewhat ironic that these deliberations have been turned into a five per cent debate, and the free negotiating process has been apparently manipulated to ensure that we can come to a consensus on this".

The Persad-Bissessar adminis-tration said that there had been many meetings, and agreements reached on some of the matters, though not to the satisfaction of all parties.

"This is not sufficient justifi-cation to magnify and isolate the issue of five per cent to be a rallying call to shut down the country," the government said.

- CMC