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Petrotrin Oil Workers Work Stoppage


Against Wage-Labour

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:55:00

May 8, 2008 – It is now the second day of a strike for 6,000 workers of Trinidad and Tobago’s state-owned Petrotrin in protest to health and safety issues and fears of job cuts.

Some of their grievances date back for four years including the neglect of the company to deal with health and safety problems that had resulted in prior work stoppages.

                                      

As recently as one month ago there was a suspected gas leak at Trinmar Oil Company (owned by Petrotrin) where 300 workers were evacuated and nearby homes were infested with the smoke and heat.  It is important to note that nothing was being done initially when workers complained of nausea and burning eyes until the workers complained and then the union stepped in and forced the evacuation.  Four nearby residents went to the hospital due to exposure to the toxic smoke.  Due to the potential for much more serious problems, the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) has called for an emergency evacuation plan for the residents who live near the energy companies. 

 

Shortly following the evacuation, the OWTU held long negotiations with management on longstanding issues of medical and pension plans. 

 

It is apparent from these activities that the workers continue to labour in unsafe conditions and for this reason they are using their labour power to force the company to address these serious problems.  Not only does the company profit from their labour but it neglects to implement safety measures for the workers.  While it is unclear if the union addressed this issue during negotiations it seems obvious that they didn’t otherwise this more recent work stoppage would never have been necessary.  As a key industry the oil workers have great strength to leverage their power in making their demands.  As workers they are not alone as being brutalized by a system that compromises lives for money, for capital.  The labour strength is necessary to fight back and must be utilized to not only fight for current issues such as health, safety, wages, but also to open up the stage for widespread  international anti-capitalist activity. 

 




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