Unreasonable union demands

Up to eight years ago, when my three children were teenagers and living at home, the family looked forward to spending a weekend during the August school vacations at the Asa Wright Nature Centre.

And what a wonderful time we always had. With clean, comfortable and spacious accommodation, with good food and courteous service, and all this in a beautiful natural environment, we all looked forward to our annual weekend at the nature centre.

In more recent times my visits have been on Sundays to enjoy the delicious Creole menus which are served buffet style and the home-made desserts of locally grown fruit or my favourite home-made coconut ice cream.

The last time my wife and I accompanied by two friends from overseas, was on the first Sunday in January. As on previous visits over a period of more than ten years, everything was to our satisfaction. We just love the place.

I was always of the impression, judging from the pleasant hospitable and friendly comportment of the staff, that they were happy in their job and that the Asa Wright Nature Centre was a good employer.

To my consternation I saw on the television a demonstration of nature centre staff in Arima and read a report in the Guardian on March 4 which implied that the staff was unhappy about wages and conditions of work and the “undue delay” in resolving these matters. Sounds like a legitimate reason for a demonstration only that the report was just part of the story, and conveyed an incorrect message— “exploitation of workers”

Through my visits to the nature centre, I have come to know the present manager. During my early visits she held the post of supervisor and as a result of the policy of the nature centre to train and to create opportunity for advancement in the organisation, she is today the manager of this internationally acclaimed and award-winning nature centre and eco-lodge.

I inquired from her what was wrong; why the protest? She explained that the staff continues to enjoy wonderful employment benefits, far beyond those enjoyed by workers in similar guest facilities and quite likely better than those enjoyed by the majority of employees in T&T.

That agreement was reached in May 2007 with the representative trade union for a 15 per cent increase in wages and other benefits. However, the union demanded that the two days of Carnival be deemed to be holidays for the staff and that the shift workers be granted two Saturdays and two Sundays off a month.

The management did not accede to these demands and the union refused to sign any agreement, including the agreement for a wage increase, unless its demands were met. Hence the demonstration during the period of the visit of Prince Charles and his wife, in attempt to put pressure on the nature centre board to agree these unreasonable union demands.

You be the judge.

George Edwards

Belmont, POS

Create talk shows that uplift

Today, citizens are searching for possible sources of the seeds of anger which seem to contribute to the criminal minds of some of our youth. As I listened to a programme hosted by a popular black leader on a radio station, I couldn’t help but wonder if these leaders are aware of the damage they do by preaching philosophies of hate.

The programme on March 10 spoke at length about the irrelevance of our schools. The host mocked the use of bells to announce the start and end of sessions, saying that students were expected to respond slavishly to these bells.

He concluded that our schools only produce people who blindly conform to the rules and regulations of the imperial master.

To the impressionable youth, especially those who just want the slightest excuse, this is a great and noble reason to drop out.

On a previous programme, this eloquent leader told his devotees that the police force was created by the white masters for their own protection and to suppress blacks. He said that the Police Service today was no different, and that policemen are merely house slaves seeking to please their masters.

The programme also took issue with those who squealed on their black brothers as these squealers were just slave trying to please the master so that they could become house slaves. This seeks to establish in the minds of the listener that the police are enemies of the people.

Such seeds when planted, and when allowed to take root, inevitably produce dropouts who have no regard for the law. Could it be that generations of lawless dropouts have already been created in some of our communities?

J F a Jules

Arouca

Special thanks

to police officers

I EXTEND my gratitude to the two officers of the Rio Claro Police Station who responded with lightning speed after an attempted armed robbery a few days ago.

Though I was traumatised, the professional manner in which they conducted themselves gave me a sense of relief and restored my confidence somewhat. These two officers (I didn’t get their names, sorry) seem to be dedicated to their work and should be commended.

Thanks also to members of the public and my neighbours who assisted in the investigation and offered their sympathies, and to MP Winston Peters who came on the scene shortly after.

Salim Mohammed

Via e-mail

Clean up

derelict vehicles

The Marabella Police Station is a junkyard for derelict vehicles. It is an eyesore to see these rusting, rotting chunks of iron just sitting there, no doubt providing an excellent breeding ground for rodents and other vermin that spread diseases that are fatal to humans.

I cannot believe that the officers who are stationed there are not aware of this or “they like it so.” Surely there must be a senior officer who is civic minded and has the power to clean up this mess.

The police and whoever else is responsible are setting a very shameful example by allowing this untidy, ugly situation to even exist on the compound of the station and mere metres away from the national flag, business establishments (especially food outlets), and private residences.

Perhaps they don’t realise that “cleanliness is next to godliness” and a clean environment is a reflection of a clean mind and soul.

Shame on the Marabella police, shame on the Ministry of National Security, and shame on the deadbeat EMA which is supposed to monitor situations like this and act immediately.

Nandini Motiram

Marabella

Is it for profit or kickbacks?

There is definitely a need for labour in T&T, but there is also a vast supply of said labour here as well.

Now, why can’t we simply move those Cepep workers over to the productive sector and allow them to contribute to the necessary work of building hospitals etc?

Is it because the contractors who have these large projects will not make such a huge profit?

Or is it because the hand-selected Cepep contractors will start losing money because they won’t be able to skim the Government’s money?

Or is it because those in Government will get smaller kickbacks?

But why should I be so bold as to think that the idea of keeping our money in our country, rather than sending it to China (and a piece to Canada), is a bad idea?

But then again, the only ones to gain from this arrangement would be the workers, who would not only be earning an honest living but also making a small change for themselves.

This can only be bad for the country, right Mr Minister?

Keith Mungal

Penal

Help me with the maths please

Not being one from the upper echelons of society nor being one who has graduated from any prestigious international university, I need to understand the “advanced” mathematics/economics our decision-makers use.

In the midst of all the hype with this executive jet service from Caribbean Airlines, I did some elementary mathematics to try and calm my own concerns. Here are my workings:

Commercial flight to Toronto: $4,500 return fare (approximate).

Flight time: five and a half hours each way, 11 hours return.

Cost an hour: $409.09.

Government has committed to purchase 600 hours flight time a year on the new jet—600 hours at $409.09/hour would be $245,940 a year in commercial flights.

Let’s play devil’s advocate here and double the regular commercial fare because officials would travel in business class and probably have other benefits to pay for. So let’s say with all that, commercial flights would have cost taxpayers $500,000 per annum.

Can anyone tell us what those 600 hours flight time will cost taxpayers on this new jet service? We the uneducated and unenlightened would like to know. If we could also know the projected running cost of this service so that we can calculate the shortfall that must be marketed to the private sector as well.

A good question for journalists to ask Arthur Lok Jack (chairman of Caribbean Airlines and chairman of Guardian Holdings) is what are the strategic plans for the Guardian Holdings jet service that the Government currently avails itself of when this new state-owned service is launched. That might add a new dimension to the saga.

Scott Forbes

Petit Valley

Talk your mind

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