分类： politics

A high-stakes wage dispute is escalating at Trinidad and Tobago’s state-owned telecommunications provider Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), with Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath drawing a firm line against pressure from the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), rejecting claims that a 10% pay increase was ever under negotiation.

Speaking to local media outlet Express on Monday, Padarath emphasized that the government will not be coerced or intimidated by the union’s aggressive tactics, amid growing threats of industrial action ahead of a planned union action this week. The conflict comes on the heels of a landmark financial report for TSTT and its subsidiary Amplia Communications Ltd, which delivered the pair’s strongest annual earnings in 17 years. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, the group posted an after-tax net profit of $214 million, marking a 103% jump from the $106 million profit recorded in the 2025 fiscal year.

Padarath credited the current United National Congress (UNC) administration’s strategic overhauls for the financial turnaround, noting that the improvement was no accidental stroke of good fortune. “We’ve been changing the management model, the strategies from within the company, looking for new areas of investment and also managing the debt portfolio of the company,” he explained. While he acknowledged the union’s mandate to advocate for its members’ financial interests, he warned against short-sighted demands that put the company’s long-term viability at risk. “It cannot be a situation where we live for today and let tomorrow see about itself. It has to be that we think long term,” Padarath said, adding that sustainable profitability is critical to protecting long-term employment for TSTT workers across Trinidad and Tobago. He reaffirmed that at no point has a 10% wage increase been proposed during negotiations, calling claims to the contrary deliberately misleading.

The dispute escalated late last week, after TSTT warned the CWU that any industrial action targeting the firm would violate the Industrial Relations Act. As a classified essential service, telecommunications is barred from work stoppages that would disrupt public access to critical infrastructure. But CWU Secretary General Joanne Ogeer pushed back against the warning, asserting the union would act within the bounds of the law and declaring “heads will roll come Wednesday.”

Beyond the TSTT conflict, Padarath also addressed an ongoing wage impasse at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), where the Public Services Association (PSA) has raised public frustration over the slow pace of negotiations, missing cost documentation, and broken communication with the ministry. Padarath stressed that the UNC-led government, which has roots in the national labour movement, remains fully committed to upholding worker rights and resolving the dispute. He framed the current impasse as a procedural and communication breakdown, not a refusal to honour agreed terms, noting “we have not reneged from any of our agreements with the PSA. Instead, we are working out the details.” He gave a formal assurance that all outstanding issues would be resolved quickly, adding that the disagreements over process can be addressed through collaborative dialogue.

The minister also launched a sharp rebuke of opposition MP Marvin Gonzales of the People’s National Movement (PNM), who last Friday called on the government to immediately order WASA to issue retroactive wage increases to workers, blaming both the UNC government and PSA leadership for the impasse and failing the authority’s workers. Padarath accused Gonzales of exploiting the labour dispute for cheap political gain, saying the opposition was hoping to capitalize on worker frustration to boost their electoral prospects. He dismissed Gonzales as a cowardly politician seeking only soundbites, contrasting the opposition’s approach with the UNC administration’s focus on tangible, long-term solutions. “That is not the policy of a United National Congress administration led by the Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Instead, we are looking for real tangible solutions and to bring a resolution, a quick resolution to this matter,” he said.

Padarath also hit back at the PNM’s legacy at WASA, noting that he inherited a deeply dysfunctional organization after 10 years of PNM rule. While he admitted significant work remains to fix the agency, he pointed to major progress made in just one year of UNC leadership. “I inherited a mess at the organisation. And what they failed to do in ten years, we have made a lot of advancements in the one year that we have been there. But obviously, there’s a lot more to be done,” Padarath said, committing to continue addressing the issue responsibly rather than engaging in what he called the opposition’s “foolishness.”

A major regional trade union body has drawn a clear line in the sand with the national government, raising stiff opposition to a proposal that would deploy convicted prison inmates to clean and upkeep public spaces, arguing the plan threatens the livelihoods of more than 40,000 out-of-work citizens waiting for gainful employment.

National Trade Union Centre (Natuc) General Secretary Michael Annisette laid out the organisation’s position in a formal public statement, clarifying that the union does not oppose meaningful offender rehabilitation programmes. Instead, Annisette stressed that any inmate work initiative must be structured first and foremost to equip participants with marketable, certified skills that will help them secure legal, stable employment after they complete their sentences. He pushed back against framing inmate work as a cheap, convenient replacement for paid labour that would otherwise go to unemployed residents.

The controversy sparked two weeks prior, when Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander first floated the proposal during a stakeholder meeting for the National Programme for the Upkeep of Public Spaces (NPUPS), held at St John’s Community Centre in Tunapuna. Alexander confirmed that offenders sentenced to hard labour would eventually be integrated into public maintenance work as part of their court-ordered sentences. The NPUPS initiative, launched by the government, is designed to boost municipal workforce capacity and keep community spaces clean and functional, with tasks ranging from street and drain clearing to general public space upkeep.

Annisette is demanding the government provide clear answers on what tangible benefits inmates will gain from the proposed work. Before the policy moves forward, he says the administration must address a core question: If inmates are tasked with public space maintenance, what nationally recognised credentials, skills, and post-release employment pathways will they walk away with that they did not have before entering prison? Without a clear, satisfactory answer, Annisette argues the initiative will be seen as nothing more than a cost-cutting measure disguised as correctional reform, rather than a genuine effort at rehabilitation.

“Cleaning drains, cutting grass, clearing roadsides and maintaining public spaces may constitute useful work, but work alone is not rehabilitation,” Annisette said in the statement.

The Natuc leader outlined that any legitimate rehabilitation-focused inmate work programme must integrate foundational skill building such as literacy and numeracy training, life skills education, occupational health and safety certification, hands-on vocational instruction, and nationally recognised qualifications aligned with existing in-demand job openings. He emphasized that the goal of correctional programming should be to prepare inmates to succeed as law-abiding citizens after release, not just teach them to complete manual tasks.

“An inmate should not simply leave prison knowing how to perform a task. That individual should leave better equipped to obtain lawful employment and remain outside the criminal justice system,” he added.

Annisette contextualized the union’s opposition against the country’s current strained labour market, which already leaves more than 40,000 displaced workers searching for meaningful, sustainable work. He says the government has a core responsibility to create quality jobs for law-abiding citizens, and must explain how the inmate labour proposal aligns with that obligation.

Stressing that Natuc is not against offender rehabilitation broadly, Annisette framed the union’s position as a push for “fairness, balance and responsible public policy.” He pointed out that thousands of unemployed citizens are actively seeking work, displaced workers are struggling to support their families, and thousands of existing workers already earn their living in public maintenance, sanitation, landscaping and related fields.

Natuc has pledged to strongly oppose any arrangement that uses inmate labour — whether directly or indirectly — to eliminate existing jobs, push down wages, undermine collective bargaining agreements, avoid hiring unemployed workers, reduce available job openings for citizens, or replace decent paid work with low-cost or unpaid inmate labour. “The rehabilitation of one group in society must not be achieved through the economic displacement of another,” Annisette said.

Beyond labour market concerns, the union is also calling on the government to ensure any future inmate work programme adheres to international standards for prison labour, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, widely known as the Nelson Mandela Rules. Under these global standards, prison work must never be exploitative, and must prioritize rehabilitation, vocational skill building, and preparation for post-release employment.

Annisette argued that the success of any inmate labour programme should not be measured by how much public maintenance work is completed — such as the number of cleaned highways or cleared drains. Instead, success should be measured by outcomes: how many inmates earned recognized qualifications, developed marketable skills, secured quality employment after release, successfully reintegrated into society, and did not reoffend.

Natuc also raised key practical and public safety concerns about deploying convicted inmates to work in public spaces. Annisette said comprehensive risk assessments must be conducted to screen which inmates are appropriate for public work placements, alongside investments in trained on-site supervision, secure transportation, proper tools and safety equipment, formal occupational safety protocols, emergency response plans, and enough correctional staff and resources to keep everyone safe.

The union warned that members of the public, prison officers, other public employees, and contracted workers should not be exposed to avoidable risks caused by inadequate planning and under-resourcing. To address these gaps and ensure all perspectives are heard, Natuc is calling for full consultation with organized labour, employer groups, correctional authorities, and all relevant stakeholders before any implementation moves forward.

“Rehabilitation should create productive citizens. It should never create displaced workers,” Annisette concluded.

A planned expansion of community policing across Trinidad and Tobago has become the center of a conflict between central and local government authorities, even as law enforcement leaders prepare to bring new facilities online. Deputy Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin has confirmed that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is eagerly anticipating the launch of multiple new permanent police posts, including a key location at Eddie Hart Savannah in Tacarigua. When reporters from the Express visited the Tacarigua site this week, the fully built structure was found shuttered and non-operational, with only a single security guard stationed in a nearby blue tent, indicating that final opening procedures are still underway. Benjamin emphasized in an interview that the TTPS is committed to leveraging these new facilities to their full potential once they open. The new posts, he explained, are designed to address two longstanding gaps in local public safety: they will cut emergency response times dramatically during critical incidents, and give neighborhood residents a more accessible local hub to file reports and access routine police services without traveling long distances to distant precincts. Despite broad support for the goal of expanding policing access, the project has run into opposition from the Tunapuna-Piarco Regional Corporation, whose chairman Josiah Austin says the construction of the Tacarigua post violated local regulatory laws. Austin told reporters that the regional corporation issued both a formal notice of violation and a stop-work order before construction was completed, but central government officials proceeded with the project regardless, choosing to ignore the legal directives. Austin stressed that his corporation does not oppose the creation of these new police posts as a policy initiative – the objection is centered on the process the central government used to advance the Tacarigua site. He called on the government to ensure that future construction of additional posts includes required consultation with local governing bodies and relevant state agencies, such as the National Gas Company (NGC). Austin noted that the ongoing standoff should serve as a clear reminder that central government must adhere to all existing legal requirements when undertaking public projects within jurisdictions managed by local authorities. ‘At some point they would learn that Central Government cannot bully Local Government, as the law is the law and the right thing is the right thing,’ Austin said. Last week, Austin first raised public concerns about the project, noting that the Tacarigua site lacked pre-construction consultation with the corporation and was built over decommissioned NGC gas lines. The NGC has since released a statement confirming that the lines are no longer active and do not present any public safety hazard at the site. The broader 30-post initiative was first announced two weeks ago by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who framed the program as a mobile joint army-police expansion that will boost public safety across both islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The plan has already drawn backing from other local government leaders, including Chaguanas Mayor Faaiq Mohammed and Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Farley Augustine. However, it has also faced scrutiny beyond the local government dispute: opposition attorneys have formally submitted a request to the Office of the Procurement Regulator, calling for a full investigation into the procurement processes used for the construction and site preparation work across all 30 planned posts.