A decades-long industrial dispute has reached a major milestone, as nearly $350 million in long-outstanding cost-of-living allowance (COLA) payments has been released to current and former workers of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC), Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath has confirmed. The announcement came during a press interaction at the recent launch of a new solar power system for Angostura Holdings Ltd’s bitters bottling facility in Laventille’s Angostura House.
Padarath explained that the disbursement fulfills a commitment made by the Prime Minister several months prior to resolve backlogged COLA obligations covering the 2015 to 2025 period, noting that the process is currently moving forward as planned. He added that government officials have maintained consistent, open dialogue with the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), the primary representative body for T&TEC’s workforce, throughout the settlement process.
“Over the last couple of months, we have paid out, I would say, close to $350 million in outstanding payments that were owed to T&TEC workers,” Padarath told reporters.
The minister framed the COLA settlement as a core component of broader government efforts to stabilize industrial relations at the state-owned utility, clear long-standing unpaid obligations, and implement structural restructuring for the organization. Ongoing negotiations are already underway to address bargaining agreements for current and future contract periods, he confirmed, adding that T&TEC’s day-to-day operations remain fully stable amid the changes.
“Morale is high in T&TEC. There are a lot of changes that are happening there, negotiations for the current period, and the outstanding ones will progress in the very near future. There is a good relationship with the OWTU, who is the majority trade union representative for T&TEC,” Padarath said. “We have seen significant improvements with respect to outstanding COLA and settlement of wages and so on. And therefore, we look towards the future.”
Contacted for verification, OWTU Second Vice-President Reesa Ramlogan-Jodha confirmed that disbursements are proceeding under a structured phased plan that includes both active T&TEC employees and former workers, including retirees. The rollout began late last year for current staff, with payments continuing through the early months of 2026, she explained.
“The payment would have been in one or two parts. Each part would have had tranches. So, in December 2025, January and February of 2026, active employees would have received what was outstanding,” Ramlogan-Jodha said.
Following the completion of payments to current staff, focus has now shifted to former employees, with disbursements scheduled for May, June, and July of 2025. By the end of July, all outstanding COLA obligations will be fully settled, she confirmed.
The COLA backlog is a decades-long industrial issue that has stretched back more than 10 years, Ramlogan-Jodha noted, explaining that the OWTU had repeatedly pushed previous T&TEC management teams to resolve the unpaid liability over the years. For much of that period, prior management administrations refused to even acknowledge that the payments were owed, a position that caused major delays in reaching any resolution.
“The then management would not even acknowledge that there was a payment outstanding to workers and former workers who would have fallen within that period. As far as they were concerned, there was nothing owed,” she said.
The turning point came following a change in government administration and a shift in T&TEC’s leadership, which brought a new, more collaborative approach to negotiations, Ramlogan-Jodha added. The new management team has been far more open to finding mutually acceptable solutions to outstanding worker issues.
While the COLA backlog is nearing resolution, it represents only one part of a broader set of outstanding industrial issues between the OWTU and T&TEC. Negotiations over wage agreements for the 2015–2017 and 2018–2020 contract periods are still active, Ramlogan-Jodha noted, adding that the union has formally requested to restart discussions and multiple negotiating sessions have already been held. Though no final deal has been reached, both sides have committed to continuing bilateral talks to find common ground.
For the 2015–2017 period, the Industrial Court previously issued a 0-0-0 wage ruling, which the OWTU appealed; the case is now back before the court. T&TEC has indicated it prefers to resolve both outstanding contract periods through direct negotiation, and if the parties can reach a voluntary agreement, the court case will be resolved accordingly, Ramlogan-Jodha said.
She emphasized that the union remains optimistic about ongoing talks, citing the marked improvement in collaborative relations with the current T&TEC administration. Progress has also been made on other outstanding collective bargaining issues, including field worker placement and overall employment conditions, with incremental advances recorded since the end of last year.