Petrotrin officially launched its Mediation Centre on Tuesday at a jointly hosted breakfast session with the Mediation Board of T&T at the Pointe-a-Pierre Club. The launch was a key programme activity for the fourth annual celebration of Mediation Week.
The Mediation Centre was conceptualised as a proactive measure to minimise conflict and promote stability within its workforce by replacing the traditional adversarial approach with more constructive relations. Recognising the foundational importance of good employee relations for the organisation's continued productivity, a bipartisan approach was used for the establishment of the Mediation Centre.
This approach included collaboration with the three representative bargaining units, the Estate Police Association (EPA), National Petroleum Staff Association (NPSA), and the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU).
In his address at the launch of the Mediation Centre, Petrotrin president Khalid Hassanali noted that the company is the first in T&T to implement a centre of this nature, making it a landmark achievement for the state owned enterprise.It is anticipated that this service will foster a greater appreciation for structured dialogue as the preferred approach to conflict resolution within the company.