A major labor dispute has erupted at Trinidad and Tobago’s Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), after dozens of employees gathered in protest outside the authority’s St Joseph headquarters on Friday, reacting to a months-long negotiation impasse that ended abruptly when senior management walked out of scheduled talks.
The demonstration, organized by the Public Services Association (PSA), the union representing WASA workers, follows a breakdown in discussions covering two expired collective bargaining periods: 2014–2016 and 2017–2019. PSA President Felisha Thomas told reporters that the standoff escalated when WASA’s Human Resources Director and her entire negotiating team abandoned talks around midnight Thursday, and failed to show up for any follow-up discussions on Friday.
When local newspaper the Express visited the protest site just after 1 p.m. Friday, Thomas was delivering an impassioned address to the crowd of workers, who had maintained a presence at the headquarters for more than 24 hours at that point. She warned that the union would ramp up its protest action if management refused to return to the table and address worker demands in good faith.
“As it stands now, we have waited a long time for a meaningful response from leadership, and there has been nothing,” Thomas told the assembled workers. “It’s Friday, so we are leaving the compound this afternoon to rest over the weekend. But make no mistake: first thing Monday morning, we will be back right here, and we will stand by our word.” She called on workers to come prepared on Monday, asking attendees to wear comfortable sneakers and their official green PSA union jerseys to show solidarity.
Thomas pushed back on what she framed as management’s tactic of outwaiting protesting workers, asking the crowd: “They are trying to wait for you to get tired of this fight. Will you get tired? Are you willing to fight to the end?” The workers responded in unanimous agreement, shouting their support for continued action.
In an interview with the Express after the address, Thomas noted that the HR team’s walkout was unprecedented in her tenure as union president. “This is the first time I have ever seen management walk away from the negotiating table and refuse to return, and even worse, there has been no comment or proposed path forward from senior WASA leadership or government officials,” she said.
Discussions for the new collective agreements first kicked off at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Thomas explained. She added that the union had only just learned that contract proposals the union put forward all the way back in January 2024 had never been shared with WASA’s board of directors or forwarded to the Ministry of Public Utilities to get the formal approvals needed to reach a final deal. The union has repeatedly demanded that the HR Director immediately escalate the proposals to the board and ministry to move talks forward, Thomas said.
As of Friday, Minister of Public Utilities Barry Padarath had acknowledged the dispute, confirming to the Express via WhatsApp that he had formally requested a full briefing from WASA leadership on both the status of negotiations and the full set of concerns raised by the PSA and its members.
Thomas emphasized that the union and its membership are prepared for a prolonged standoff to secure a fair deal for workers, noting that more union members are expected to join the protest on Monday to amplify their demands. “When we return on Monday, we will be stronger than we are today, with more workers — all workers — standing together, to make it clear that WASA employees must be treated as a priority,” she said.