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THE union representing workers at Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) is claiming that the company intends to shelve manufacturing and transform the Trinidad operation into a point for warehousing and distribution.
Lyndon Mendoza, chief labour relations officer at the Oilfield Workers' Trade Union (OWTU), said no jobs will be safe as the company begins its restructuring exercise.
Last week the company retrenched 12 workers and on Thursday, it sent a notice to the union of its intention to close the packaging division.
In the letter addressed to OWTU’s general secretary Richard Lee and signed by Bonnie Alexis, HR manager/group coordinator, TCL noted the financial difficulties it has been experiencing due to the economic changes within the industry.
The closure will affect some 59 workers – 47 who belong to the hourly rated and monthly paid bargaining units – plus 12 others employed in the packaging plant but are not OWTU members.
Alexis in the letter stated, “in the past years we have taken several actions to adapt and mitigate the impact for the sustainability and survivability of our business. Unfortunately, these actions have not yielded sufficient results.
“Due to this climate, a decision was taken that the operations of the company will cease/be shut down on February 15, 2021.”
TCL has proposed a virtual meeting with the parties on January 26 and 28.
Mendoza said the union has confirmed the dates.
“TCL is choosing to import bags from Brazil and in terms of restructuring, they are really trying to downsize,” Mendoza said.
“From our intel on the ground, they intend to make TT a warehousing and distribution sector and really reduce manufacturing on a whole.”
“No job is safe. Retrenchment is not contemplated in the way TCL is using it. We would want to explore our legal actions to force them to make a firm decision on what is their organisational structure or corporate strategy and not just have these individual retrenchment exercises continuing.”
He said discussions are taking place between the union and its attorneys to this effect.
In the interin, he said, cement workers are on the edge.
Mendoza said news that the company intends to close the TCL Packaging Ltd (TPL) component of the group has left workers demotivated and tense.
“Workers are very tense. Even the workers who are not earmarked to go, they are very worried, seeing their comrades going home one by one. Every morning they wake up wondering if 'I will be next,' he told the Newsday on Friday.
The post OWTU claims: TCL plans to shelve manufacturing, move to distribution appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.