November 7, 2018
TO: All Editors
For Immediate Release
MEDIA RELEASE
INDUSTRIAL COURT ADDRESSES STATEMENT MADE BY TT CHAMBER
The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce released a statement on October 11, 2018 which stated, among other things, that:
- Two years ago, with the threat of industrial action and the shutdown of Petrotrin, the union won a pay increase from an employer that was unable to afford even the old wages in an already overstaffed operation.
This information is totally inaccurate.
In the matter of the breakdown of negotiations between Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago (PETROTRIN) and the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), the Company offered to pay a one percent wage/salary increase for the final year of the three years period. The Court upheld Petrotrin’s offer, although the Union advocated for a higher percentage increase, and ruled in the judgment delivered on 6th March, 2018 that “on the totality of the evidence, that the Company’s offer of a one percent (1%) wage/salary increase for the final year is fair and just in the given circumstances”. The Court in its judgment noted that “[it] had to balance on one hand, the need to improve the workers standard of living and on the other, the Company’s profitability, productivity, the state of the national economy and the persistently low global energy prices, among other things”.
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For further Information contact:
Communications Officer
Tel: 734-7532 /225-4288 ext. 2211
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