The current legal wrangling at the Industrial Court and the Appeal Court over the imminent closure of the oil refinery and the injunction preventing TSTT from consolidating its residential fibre optic cable business has highlighted the need for serious reform to Trinidad & Tobago’s industrial relations legislative framework. The Energy Chamber of Trinidad & Tobago has been working closely with our colleagues in the other major Chambers and Associations over the past few years to propose a new approach to industrial relations, based on respect and a collaborative approach that aims at a mutually beneficial outcome rather than the out-dated adversarial system. We fully support the calls for change made last week by the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce and we are united in this endeavour.
The Energy Chamber notes that the injunction on Petrotrin was overturned by the Appeals Court after considering the serious wider economic implications of not closing the refinery. This failure to take the wider implications of its decisions into account is a common criticism of the Industrial Court. We have seen numerous cases where Industrial Court decisions can be said on the face of the judgment to have been taken without apparent consideration of the impact on the company and the economy. Ironically these decisions are usually not in the long-term interest of the very workers whose “rights” the Industrial Court sought to protect: the Arcelor Mittal case obviously springs to mind.
The need for wider reform of the industrial relations legislation and the role of the Industrial Court is clear.
The Trinidad & Tobago Energy Conference 2019 is themed “Technology: transforming the industry”. Based on the discussion at the recent launch of the Energy Conference, one of the major challenges facing companies in the energy sector in Trinidad & Tobago is adapting to the rapid changes in technology that are already taking place. We need a flexible and responsive labour market, a modern education and training system and a supportive industrial relations climate if our companies and our employees are going to be able to change and adapt to take advantage of new opportunities. An adversarial industrial relations climate created by our legislation and the attitude of key powerful institutions, prevents companies from being able to quickly adapt and prosper. In this rapidly changing global environment attempts to protect the status quo for its own sake must not be allowed to jeopardise the long-term future of our country.
The Energy Chamber advocates for urgent reform of the industrial relations legislation and the transformation of its enforcing legislature. The time for talk is past, we need urgent action to move us forward as a country.