Approximately 150 PowerGen workers are set to receive outstanding wages under a $66.1 million settlement with the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced in a social media post.
The Minister of Public Utilities announced the agreement in Parliament, ending an industrial dispute that dates back to 2015. The settlement covers outstanding negotiations for the 2016-2017 and 2018-2020 bargaining periods. All outstanding payments to the roughly 150 eligible workers are scheduled to be made by December 15.
The deal also provides a 9 percent wage increase over five years.
The Prime Minister said the workers had been neglected for more than nine years under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) administration. She described the settlement as a promise made and a promise kept by her United National Congress (UNC) government.
In her post, Persad-Bissessar also referred to a protest against the UNC that took place around the same time as the parliamentary announcement. She described it as a failed demonstration that drew about 400 people at its peak, and she characterised it as driven by political and racial hatred of the UNC.
She said the government would continue to work with unions that wish to improve their members’ working conditions. She urged unions that opposed the government to set aside “personal interests, bias, and hatred” and to negotiate responsibly, as other unions are doing.
“The UNC loves and respects all our law-abiding, hardworking honest citizens and will continue to work in their best interests,” the Prime Minister said.