PRESS RELEASE

The All Trinidad General Workers’ Trade Union wishes to offer it’s sincerest condolences to Member of Parliament for Couva-South, Mr. Rudranath Indarsingh and his family on the passing away of his father Mr. Bissoon Indarsingh also called Ben. Ben was a stalwart of the All Trinidad General Workers’ Trade Union acting as President of the Caroni Section, shop steward and after he retired he became a life member of the Union.
 

Mr. Bissoon Indarsingh was a solider in the struggle to ensure that Sugar Workers received their just due in the economic battles of the past. As a leader he was firm and unflinching in his duty to his Union and the people of the section that he led.

Go in peace our Brother, you will be sorely missed.

Yours sincerely,

__________________________
Nirvan Maharaj

President General

Press Release : Mora Valley Farm

The All Trinidad General Worker's Trade Union and the workers of Mora Valley Farm in Rio Claro are Tobago calling on the Chief Personnel Officer and by extension the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, to immediately begin the process of expediting negotiations for the employees of Mora Valley Farm for the outstanding period 2011-2013.

In addition we are also calling on the Government to immediately pay outstanding wages and outstanding annual leave payments for periods ranging from 2006-2013.

We are also asking the Government to immediately implement decisions taken in cabinet minute number 1854-2013/07/03, Note no (13) 143.

1. That the expenditure to be incurred in respect of the payment of gratuity be met from the budgetary allocation of the Ministry of Finance and the Economy ( Pension Division ), and

2. That the Ministry of Food Production take steps to regularize the status of the contract staff beyond 2013.

These decisions shave not been implemented and as such the Government in a high handed and unjustified manner is also attempting to negotiate with these workers as if they are contract workers.

We are saying that these workers have suffered too long and the issues of the workers of the Farm must be dealt with immediately. It must never be forgotten that up till a few months ago there are workers who worked for years at this Farm without having access to sick leave, casual leave, over time and who were also paid below the minimum wage. There were people who worked for 12 hours and were only paid for eight. There are several health and safety issues together with a shortage of relevant staff and temporary workers who have been at the Farm for many years and to whom they turn for guidance and directions.

We are calling on the Government to end the suffering of the workers of Mora Valley Farm, remove them from the state of limbo that they exist in and simply give them their just due.

Your sincerely

__________________________
Nirvan Maharaj
President General - ATGWTU

Press Conference : 6th December 2014

Ex-Caroni workers invited to join new political party

By Carolyn Kissoon carolyn.kissoon@trinidadexpress.com




http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Ex-Caroni-workers-invited--to-join-new-political-party-279990052.html

Story Created: Oct 21, 2014 at 8:28 PM ECT

Story Updated: Oct 21, 2014 at 8:28 PM ECT
FORMER Caroni (1975) Ltd workers have been invited to join the country’s newest political party, the National Solidarity Assembly (NSA), to contest seats in the 2015 general election.

The NSA was formed by members of the All Trinidad General Workers Union (ATGWU) and is expected to be launched next month.

ATGWU president general Nirvan Maharaj said the political party was formed to encourage the Government to respond to issues affecting ex-Caroni workers.

He said screening would begin soon for 17 candidates to represent constituencies in the sugar belt.

Four former sugar workers have already expressed interest in four seats, including Pointe-a-Pierre, Naparima, Couva South and Couva North, said Maharaj.

“It is an attempt to get the Government to respond in a meaningful way to the issues of the ex-Caroni workers. We will be contesting 17 seats in the sugar belt areas, all in a bid to give ex-Caroni workers a choice. It is not a question of winning or losing, but there are 1,000 ex-Caroni workers living in Couva North and if I get 1,000 votes I will know that the ex-Caroni workers are saying continue the struggle on our behalf,” he said.

And if the votes do not favour the NSA, Maharaj said, he would reassess his position.

“If they don’t (support) I will know they are saying to let somebody else do so. We cannot be struggling indefinitely. We need to get a mandate and 2015 will be the best time to get that mandate,” he said.

Maharaj said his resolve was strengthened when the Government distributed 500 acres of land to former workers last week.

“I have no choice, 500 acres were given out last week and leases were given out without any infrastructure, development, without any roads, drainage, access irrigation. We have people who got leases and don’t know where the lands are located. The minister is saying people can go on a computer and see where their lands are located but that is different from people physically going on a site to see their lands. I need to get a logical conclusion,” he said.

Maharaj said he was stunned by the increasing support from ex-Caroni workers, small farmers and other groups.

And if his political party succeeds in claiming above 1,000 votes in the Couva district, Maharaj said, he would continue to articulate on behalf of the ex-workers, seeking legal options to ensure the issues are settled.


“But it can’t be that you vote Ramona Ramdial and Rudranath Indarsingh today and then come to me to take up a struggle on your behalf and then elections are called and you vote for them again and then come to me the next day to take up a struggle against the persons you vote for,” he said, referring to current Government MPs.

Maharaj said he was not too concerned about winning the election race, but making a statement to the former workers that the power lies in their hands.

“If I don’t get the support I will have to rethink what I am doing, because at the end of the day we can’t struggle in isolation for those we are struggling for. We have to reassess and reanalyse the situations,” he said.

Couva South MP and former All Trinidad General Workers Union (ATGWU) president general Rudy Indarsingh questioned the intent in the formation of a new political party to contest seats in the sugar belt.

And he dismissed claims that the People’s Partnership Government was not doing enough to resolve outstanding issues faced by former sugar workers.

Indarsingh was responding to statements made by Maharaj, who is expected to launch his new political party next month.

“If you form a political party, you form a political party to get into government or to achieve being in government. The composition of Parliament is 41 seats. When I was president of the ATGWU I left a union that lost 12,000 members between 2003 and 2010. Steering that union financially was a challenge. I doubt that the union has been able to increase its membership tenfold since closure of Caroni (1975) Ltd,” he said.

Indarsingh questioned whether Maharaj’s decision to launch NSA was sanctioned by the union’s general council and financial executive.

He recalled that the People’s National Movement (PNM) shut down Caroni and was about to pay out workers’ financial entitlements when the union intervened.

And through a legal battle, he said, the union was able to secure residential and agricultural land for workers.

Indarsingh said the PNM delivered 184 agricultural leases in its nine years in government, whereas the People’s Partnership distributed 4,000-plus agricultural leases and 1,984 residential leases.

He said the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led Government also made it possible for the ex-Caroni workers to recover money they invested in Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) and Hindu Credit Union (HCU).

Indarsingh said the Government had never shut its doors to dialogue with ATGWU to speed up the process in matters regarding the former workers.

“I am not saying that there are not some challenges, but the Government has been very open and committed to the process of continuing dialogue and working with the union. It is a work in progress and the Government is committed.”

Indarsingh said the last meeting between Government ministers and ATGWU was held at the Ministry of Housing two months ago.

Blind Welfare on Protest Action

Blind Welfare workers begin ‘stage one’ of protest action.

By Port-of-Spain
Alexander Bruzual

Link,http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Blind-Welfare-workers-begin-stage-one-of-protest-action-273416231.html

Story Created: Aug 31, 2014 at 11:17 PM ECT
Story Updated: Aug 31, 2014 at 11:17 PM ECT

ON Friday night, 20 workers at the Blind Welfare Association North Office, located at the corner of Duke and Edward streets in Port of Spain, locked themselves inside the building for the weekend as “stage one” of their plans to protest the fact that more than 50 workers have not been paid for the past ten working days.

This was revealed yesterday by president general of the All Trinidad General Workers’ Trade Union, Nirvan Maharaj, in a brief interview with the Express.

“We have a situation right now where the Government has not paid these men and women, who are mostly daily paid, for the past ten working days and counting,” said Maharaj.

“These are men and women who have families, who have bills, mortgages, medical payments, children to support. They are just like everyone else, and yet there seems to be no consideration for them at all.

“So about 20 persons decided that they had enough and they want to commence protest actions until the situation is resolved. Part of that plan was to lock themselves in the compound and sleep there. The union and myself went to the compound today (Sunday) to show solidarity with them and to give them food and drink, and to make sure they were all doing okay,” Maharaj added.

He said he was calling on the Government to resolve the issue as soon as possible for the sake of all involved.

“If the matter is not resolved by Tuesday afternoon, then the union will have no choice but to lead a march to the Prime Minister’s office demanding that she intervene and pay these men and women. We are hoping that it does not come to that, but we are preparing for any eventuality at this point,” Maharaj said.

Press Release : the constitutional amendment bill.

23^rd August 2014

The President General of the All Trinidad General Workers’ Trade Union Nirvan Maharaj wishes to express his preliminary point of view regarding the contents of the constitutional amendment bill.

This point of view is not cast in stone, but may be altered or even changed depending on the arguments for and against, if convincing enough, expressed by the Independent Senators in the Senatorial Debate to be held on the 26^th August, 2014.

Though questions may arise as to the process used to bring this Bill to Parliament, an initial analysis of the contents of this Bill together with research on the system proposed seem to indicate that there is no substantive provision in this Bill that makes it worst than the “First past the post system” or violates or denies a citizen his democratic rights under the Constitution to exercise his right to vote or to support a political party of his choice.

In the absence of any empirical evidence to show that this Bill undermines any of our constitutional rights to universal adult suffrage and/or any of the elements of the rights enshrined in Part 1 (4) of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago then the opposition to the contents of this Bill seem to be based on mere speculation and assumption on what may or may not happen and wild and unsubstantiated allusions to the race bogey. I am yet to be convinced that this proposed system will lead to a disturbance of our electoral peace and tranquillity or increase substantially, voting along racial lines anymore than we have experienced in this nation since the nineteen sixties.

It must be noted that no Constitution should ever be unchangeable, since the historical dynamics of the past must mesh with current and contemporary scenarios to ensure that all citizens are afforded the opportunity to fair play, equality and justice before the institutions that govern the society. It must be that a Constitution is evolutionary as the society itself evolves. It cannot be that we are willing to accept that a minority vote can dictate to the will of the majority, but we are fearful of a system that will allow an individual entering the Lower House of Parliament to be elected by the majority of the votes cast. This is simply not logical.

In lieu of the Opposition ever supporting any form of Proportional Representation, in my view and until shown otherwise, this bill is a step in the right direction toward ensuring that at least in the realm of electoral politics, the view of the majority of those taking part, may hold sway over the specific interest of a minority. If the First Past the Post System is not working in the best of the Country, as is alleged by some and as evidenced by the attempt by the Patrick Manning regime to also introduce Constitutional change, and people are vehemently opposed to the Run Off System, then perhaps the time has come for Civil Society Organisations and other interest groups to demand that the PNM, UNC and other political interest groups implement some type of Proportional Representation to ensure that he who achieves the majority of votes win and that all interest are served. That may be a lot better than opposing for opposing sake and finding any avenue to say that your rights are being violated, to continue to do this, is disingenuous to the future of our nation.

I am of the view that any political party entering into elections should do so as an alternative to the incumbent and with the desire to win in order to do better. It is up to the individual political parties to capture the imagination of the public, become a major force and in so doing achieve the necessary votes to win an election whether through a first-past-the-post system or any other system. It is quite strange in my view and incomprehensible that a political party will go into election with a desire to lose. For example, if the All Trinidad General Workers Trade Union were to form a political party to ensure the interest of the ex-Caroni workers and their families were being attended to and also to assist those who feel they have been unfairly done by, especially by the Partnership Government and the PNM. Then in the constituencies this Party should choose to contest, we will be going all out to be an alternative and to win, not lose, or be of nuisance value.

In any event, until such time as the views of the independent senators are expressed and I am convinced otherwise it is my view that most of the opposition levied against the content of this bill are simply opposing for opposing sake. The Jury is however out on the process used and whether a simple majority is all that was needed; this can only be tested in a Court of Law. However in lieu of Proportional Representation being achieved in the House perhaps this bill is a step in the right direction.

Yours sincerely,

_________________________
Nirvan Maharaj
(Attorney at Law)
President General