President of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union Ancel Roget says the union’s future has been secured following the passage of The Miscellaneous Provisions Amendment Bill on Thursday.
The bill ensures that collective agreements negotiated under Petrotrin will continue through its successor companies, Heritage Petroleum Company Limited and Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited.
Speaking during the OWTU’s annual Labour Day wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of labour movement pioneer Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler on Friday morning, Mr. Roget described the move as one of the most significant victories in the union’s history.
President of the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union Ancel Roget said the passage of the Miscellaneous Provisions Amendment Bill effectively returns the OWTU to its roots in the oil industry, and safeguards its survival for future generations.
Speaking during the OWTU’s annual Labour Day wreath-laying ceremony on Friday, he praised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and members of the government for supporting the measure.
“For me, I don’t bound for anything else in Labor Day because we have preserved our very survival by that bill yesterday. Very important. Very important. The worst thing you can do is to our trade union, you lock
us out, don’t pay workers, take us to court, refuse to settle negotiations. But the one thing you do not do is to go after recognized majority union status, yes, and remove you from a workplace. But worse yet, for the oilfields workers trade union to move you from where you were birthed out of struggle.”
The OWTU President also reflected on the legacy of Tubal Uriah ‘Buzz’ Butler and other pioneers of the labour movement, saying their sacrifices laid the foundation for workers’ rights in Trinidad and Tobago.
“We are here to perform this very simple but very important task as we normally do every year, and that is laying the wreath at the statue of Comrade Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler. And what this represents is that
every year we pay our respects to the contribution that they would have made to the modern trade union
movement in Trinidad and Tobago, the sacrifices that they would have endured.”
The annual ceremony forms part of Labour Day observances and brings together trade union leaders, members and supporters to honour the struggles that helped shape this country’s labour movement.