Employees from across the business sector have ignored calls from trade union leaders to participate in an illegal national strike. The Joint Chambers (comprising AMCHAM T&T, the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association) conducted a comprehensive survey of their members this morning and reported that 88% of members stated that the illegal strike had no impact on their businesses, with 10% reporting a minor impact and only 2% reporting a major impact.
The Joint Chambers would like to compliment and thank the workers of Trinidad and Tobago for ignoring the irresponsible calls for a national strike and for their continued diligence and hard-work.
Ninety percent of our members reported that their absenteeism rates were at normal levels, with 7% reporting a lower absenteeism rate than for a normal Friday in September. This pattern was similar across sectors and for both unionized and non-unionized companies. The pattern was the same for both state-owned and private companies.
Absenteeism rates for companies reporting no impact were under 1%, while those reporting a minor impact, reported an absenteeism of 4%.