Senior Multimedia Journalist
joshua.seemungal@guardian.co.tt
The Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) promised to remove three prime ministers—Patrick Manning, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Dr Keith Rowley—from office over the years.
During that period, the union also sought alliances with Dr Rowley and Persad-Bissessar while their respective parties were in opposition.
The love/hate relationship between T&T’s most established trade union and the country’s leaders took another twist earlier this week when OWTU president general Ancel Roget vowed to remove the Rowley-led government from office. Roget also revealed that the union will meet with the Opposition United National Congress, the Movement for Social Justice and other interested political parties.
The declaration of war against Rowley’s government came a decade after Roget declared war against Persad-Bissessar’s People’s Partnership government.
Speaking before a crowd at the Brian Lara Promenade in 2014, Roget had accused Persad-Bissessar of an unprovoked attack on him in Parliament. He referred to the then-prime minister’s recollection of an incident at Trinmar in the 90s when Roget worked on the rigs, suggesting a worker was injured under his watch.
“You want to start a war with me that you cannot finish? That fight will continue long after you leave office. You will not be able to hold your head up after … You cannot fight with me, you have to be sober to do that,” Roget said during a two-hour march through Port-of-Spain with then-Independent Liberal Party leader Jack Warner.
He later unveiled a mannequin of Persad-Bissessar dressed in yellow.
Two years before that, in 2012, more than 20,000 people joined Roget and the then-opposition leader Rowley in protest through Port-of-Spain, calling for the removal of the then-national security minister Jack Warner and then-attorney general Anand Ramlogan for their role in the controversial Section 34 matter.
“We’re not prepared to rest until they leave! We’ve finally burst the Kamla-mania bubble ... She’s no blasted goddess or queen—she ain’t royal,” Roget said.
Closer to the general election date in 2015, the OWTU protested outside Persad-Bissessar’s Philippine, San Fernando home, demanding that all outstanding salary negotiations be settled.
“There is a high political price to pay and if you want to know what it is, you don’t have to look very far back but back to 2010,” Roget said.
Five years before, unions staged a similar protest outside the San Fernando East constituency office of former prime minister Patrick Manning, now deceased. In March 2010, union members called for Manning’s resignation. The OWTU announced an emergency general council meeting to the media before taking them, by bus, to Manning’s constituency office.
“This is to bring a message to Manning that he must go. This PNM government is the most corrupt in the history of Trinidad and Tobago. If Manning wants to say this is political, then it is,” Roget said.
In 2020, the OWTU and UNC clashed again after Roget accused Persad-Bissessar of attempting to harm the union’s bid to acquire the Petrotrin refinery in Pointe-a-Pierre.
“We want to condemn in the strongest possible terms, outright, all of those assertions made by the honourable Leader of the Opposition in her campaign to deny us an opportunity to protect our legacy and to advance Trinidad and Tobago and to advance the concerns and the well-being of the small man who today is left wanting,” Roget said at a media conference.
Warning Roget not to threaten the UNC, Persad-Bissessar then accused Roget of standing like a mannequin as Petrotrin was shut down.
“The PM and Mr Roget did not dispute any of the facts that I raised—the price at which our refinery will be sold, the mortgage and existing lien on the assets, the valuation of these assets and financing arrangements and the involvement of Trafigura.
“Instead of shedding light on the issues, they both chose to attack the messenger in order to deflect from the fact that they are incapable of responding to the message,” Persad-Bissessar said, questioning the price of the refinery and the ability of OWTU’s bid to raise the necessary funds.
The OWTU’s relationship with the present PNM Government has also been rocky. Between 2016 and 2017, the union threatened a strike, eventually serving notice to Petrotrin of impending action, after salary negotiations with the State for the period 2011 to 2014 dragged on.
Finally, in January 2017, both parties agreed in a tense, 30-hour meeting, resulting in the union calling off the strike and accepting a five per cent increase. Before the agreement was found, Petrotrin workers walked off the job and assembled under tents awaiting word. The agreement added approximately $80 million to the company’s wage bill—a bill, according to the Government, that was already more than $2 billion a year.
A little more than a year later, in August 2018, the Government announced that it would sell the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery and shut down Petrotrin, sending 1,700 workers home. According to the Government, the company was $12 billion in debt, required $25 billion in cash injection to remain operational and was projected to lose $2 billion annually.
Roget and the OWTU pleaded with the Government to reconsider its position, saying the move would threaten the country’s energy security and impact the economy negatively. They called on Prime Minister Rowley to resign and to call elections immediately.
“It is without a doubt that the closure of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery and the decision to put all Petrotrin workers on the breadline will adversely impact the lives of these workers and their immediate families. Additionally, with its compounding effect this action will bring about major social dislocation not only for these workers but also for the livelihood of thousands of people in all the southern districts in the country,” Roget wrote in a letter to PM Rowley.
Petrotrin’s operations closed in November 2018, but the Government offered OWTU the first option to own and operate the refinery.
Initially, Roget accused the Government of having a preferred bidder, but then negotiations between the State and OWTU over the refinery’s purchase began.
In September 2019, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said in Parliament that the Cabinet had agreed to sell the refinery to the OWTU’s Patriotic Energies and Technologies Company at a bid of US$700 million for the refinery assets, plus US$300 million for the non-core assets of legacy Petrotrin.
The deal, however, fell through. Two subsequent counteroffers from Patriotic, the second one in January 2021, were rejected.
The refinery discussion returned to the table this week after Indian businessman Naveen Jindal met with Prime Minister Rowley to discuss a possible purchase.
“I want to say this afternoon that the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union will not stand idly by and allow anybody to walk in here and take over the refinery. So Indian businessman or not, whoever you be, we must be a part of going forward in the operation of that refinery,” Roget said in relation to those talks at the Labour Day celebrations.
The OWTU president general also challenged PM Rowley and Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young to a debate about the refinery’s closure.
Analysts weigh in
According to political scientist Dr Winford James, the OWTU’s position, shared by the other Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) members, indicates great dissatisfaction among labour unions and traditional PNM followers with Dr Rowley’s leadership.
“We remember that when Dr Rowley was in opposition how he courted the unions and they accommodated him. We know there was a fallout not long after they became the government of the country. Apparently, there is always some promise that wasn’t fulfilled. So the unions consider themselves to be used to get back into office,” James said.
“The unions are seeing relevance because they deal with the bread and butter of the day, the difficulties for the grassroots and the working class for them to achieve the comforts of living; to be able to rise to certain ranks. It’s always that problem. You mentioned Petrotrin and the disappointment the OTWU felt when their bid was not accepted and the Government closed Petrotrin and, of course, all the implications of that closure.”
James said many voters are caught up in a struggle for loyalty, unsure whether to support the party of their choice or the union which represents their desire for improved living standards.
“There is silence about the Government’s intent about the property tax. It appears that that tax has been pushed back until next year. People sense a deception on the part of the PNM concerning what they ought to do with property tax. Other increases are coming for the population, but the Government wants the comfort of winning first and then imposing the taxes.
“The unions are saying this is obviously tomfoolery. When you hear the PSA president come out in the open and say the union rejects the Government, you must know that all is not well in terms of how Dr Rowley is running the country.”
However, he noted it is not possible to say how this will affect the ruling Government.
“We cannot say with any certitude at this point where the forces are going to align themselves. They are probably going to vote them out, PNM, and vote in the UNC. It’s not that they want to vote in the UNC, but they want to vote out the PNM. But it’s too early to make these predictions. We don’t have enough date … We are forced to use historical trends,” James said.
He said there is a continued sense of disenchantment at the polls, with around 70 per cent of the population not exercising their right to vote. According to the political scientist, this often favours the PNM and not the UNC but it will be interesting to see if that percentage increases, decreases or remains largely the same when the next election date arrives.
Meanwhile, political scientist Dr Shane Mohammed said unions continue to have a relevant role in standing up for the rights of workers. He said the working class of the country continues to suffer from high costs of living and inflation, which means a lower spending ability.
“I believe that there are strengths and weaknesses across the trade unions and it is clear there is division amongst them on certain positions re: political alliances. Additionally, the UNC should have to earn the respect and votes of the people collectively by their performance, work, policy positions and calibre of people they are onboarding and not simply by default. This only puts on a revolving political door. Is this healthy for us as a nation? I don’t believe so,” Mohammed said.