Originally published in the Sunday Guardian by a Guest Author and was republished by the Energy Chamber.
There is no doubt that some of the views shared here and recent statements made by business organisations have rattled some of the country´s union leaders.
That is good news.
It is about time we have an open, frank and constructive discussion about the kind of industrial relations we need and want for our country. After all, the current one is just not working.
For the debate to move on, our union leaders must first get to grips with some important truths.
The first one is that businesses aren’t against a legal framework that gives employees protection – but they must be equitable, unbiased and relevant to today’s world. They must also be accessible to all, not just union members.
And, shock horror, businesses also support the concept of trade unionism. After all, pretty much all successful economies in the Western world have highly active trade union movements and robust laws designed to protect workers.
Yes, businesses and trade unions in those countries do not always agree on everything and, at times, will bitterly disagree on some matters. But, overall, they work as partners to get the most for everyone.
The big difference between successful economies and ours is that unions engage in labour relations thinking strategically, whilst also being pragmatic. Ours, by and large, don’t.
They have also moved on from the old and tired chants or the outdated imaginary class war our union leaders continue to fight. Essentially, our trade unionism looks ever more anachronistic and unprepared for the real world.
They are becoming dinosaurs, risking being no more than out of touch, fossilised beings, unable or unwilling to deal with what really matters to their membership.
For instance, in a world where equal rights for women at work is a central matter for debate and action, our union leaders seem happy to live in a male-centric world. Corporate T&T still has a long way to go but whilst we can put together a long list of women occupying CEO, CFO, COO and many more board roles, the same cannot be said of the country’s trade union movement.
And why are our unions so coy about matters of wider gender equality, fairness and tolerance, including LGBT rights in the workplace?
And why aren’t they supporting law changes that would allow for fair and open Industrial Court access to all workers, not just to those who are represented by a union?
After all, in today’s Trinidad and Tobago, a worker can directly take an employment-related case on discrimination grounds to the Equal Opportunities Commission. But that same worker cannot directly go to the Industrial Court on any matter. This can’t be right.
Instead, trade union leaders have rushed in the defence of the Industrial Court and the status quo.
It makes sense to revisit our labour laws not to make life harder for workers, but to make our country more competitive and attractive to investment so that not only existing but new workers can earn more and have a better life.
Instead of focusing on these key issues of fairness, openness, gender equality and true representation, union leaders have taken issue instead with what they see as incorrect or oversimplified explanations to the demise of our steel plant, the loss of major platform-building contracts or, now, the decision by Petrotrin to end its refining business.
They may want to spin things the way they want but the fact is that these (and many more) cases share common elements: relentless attrition through trade union disputes about pretty much anything, sabre rattling by union leaders on a regular basis (in fact, hardly a week goes by without the likes of Mr Roget or Mr Duke gracing our news programmes or newspapers with a threat or another) and a trade union leadership in denial about the state of the economy and the competitive nature of a globalised economy.
It is the intransigence, the xenophobic attitude, the backward war of attrition and detachment from reality of our unions that is stopping us from growing and having more people in better employment.
They must change, for their members and for the country. Or they risk becoming museum pieces, not active players in the country’s development.
They could start by dropping their deep (and discriminatory) suspicion of all thing foreign and looking beyond these shores. By being both pragmatic and strategic, trade union leaders in Europe and North America are making themselves more relevant and successful to the modern labour market’s needs. Ours aren’t. And that’s a real disservice to both their members and trade unionism itself.
There’s plenty of room for socially transformative trade unions in Trinidad and Tobago but if the current union leadership fails to act on major reform, their path is a lot less glorious: just like dinosaurs, they risk heaving towards irrelevance and extinction. That would be a shame.