There's still hope for former temporary Petrotrin employees.
They could very likely find new service sector jobs since there will be greater service company activity with new companies of the restructured entity, says Energy Minister Franklin Khan.
He said so during last Friday's Parliament debate on a motion regarding lack of payment for a number of Petrotrin's temporary workers
He was replying to UNC MP David Lee who chastised Government over lack of payment for some temporary workers such as those who worked eight to nine months of the year. Citing certain cases including that of a single mother who worked for 16 years, Lee said it was "pure callousness" that a formula wasn't worked out.
Khan, however, said the four new companies in the restructured entity are setting up and there will be re-employment, additional activity, and greater service company activity and temporary workers could likely find jobs in the service sectors.
"When you work in the energy sector, you don't have to work in Petrotrin, you can work with service companies, drilling companies, workover companies, coil-tubing companies. Activities will be increased as the investment will be taking place in Exploration and Production and in the south-west."
Khan, who said the E&P will be the lifeblood of the energy sector, maintained Government was fair and equitable in its treatment with workers.
He detailed the $2.7b payment of termination benefits, backpay, outstanding vacation leave and processed promotions to workers. Khan noted 1,350 workers age 50 and over also qualified for early retirement and are "laughing all the way to the bank" with severance, gratuity, and immediate pensions.
Agreeing some were not as fortunate, he noted $30m was also paid to 1,229 temporary workers out of 2,213 such workers. A decision was taken to pay temporary workers who'd been on the payroll for 12 months prior to August 2018 and served a minimum of 750 days in the last five years.
Khan said Petrotrin had historically engaged temporary workers to manage fluctuations in manpower over time. "This practice became entrenched and exhorbitant. These workers weren't supposed to work more than 150 days in one year. However, every time they were engaged and at the end of this working period, they were paid a gratuity calculated on the length of engagement."
He said the temporary workers were always being paid termination benefits at the end of a cycle. "And each would get a redundancy payment at the end of every engagement. So Petrotrin had no obligations, legal or otherwise to these workers."
Khan said the recurrent practice of hiring such workers, terminating them, paying them gratuity and rehiring them shortly after their previous stint, gave them the expectation that they could have depended on continued income and that cessation of operations would be the same for them as it would have been for permanent workers.