Address by
Her Honour Mrs. Heather Seale
President, Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago
at the
Special Sitting for the Opening of the 2025 – 2026 Law Term
and
in Commemoration of the Court’s Diamond Jubilee
The Industrial Court in San Fernando was opened on February 15, 2005. The first sitting of our San Fernando Court was held the very next day. The then President, His Honour Mr. Addison Khan (now deceased) chaired a two Member panel, of which I was the other Member. The Court heard Trade Dispute No 154 of 2004 between Banking Insurance and General Workers Union and Antilles Credit Union Co-operative Society Limited. The Union was represented by Mr. Don Devenish, then Assistant General Secretary and the Credit Union was represented by Attorneys at law Mrs. Norma Maynard Marshall and Mr. Dinesh Rambally. Mr. Rambally served as a Judge of this Court sometime after.
The judgment in the Antilles Credit Union case was delivered by me on June 7, 2005.
I am pleased that not only did I sit on the first matter heard in San Fernando but the duty now falls to me to preside over the Court’s first Special sitting in San Fernando, in this our sixtieth year of existence.
As the Court celebrates its diamond jubilee, I reflected on the qualities of diamonds. Among the many notable qualities of diamonds is their hard nature. Diamonds are the hardest material known to man which makes them valuable and useful for jewelry but even more so in industry. Diamonds also have a high heat conductivity and for this quality they are used in a number of industries including the automobile and computer industries.
Old school music enthusiasts would also appreciate the diamond needle as a standard component of superior music players.
Like diamonds, the Industrial Court over these sixty years has shown its endurance. The Court and its Judges have been able to withstand pressure and to absorb heat, all in the interest of making better provision for the stabilization, improvement and promotion of good industrial relations.