The Labour movement has played a major role in the evolution of T&T since the late 19th century. The history goes back to the formation of the Trinidad Working Men's Association which later became the vehicle for Captain Cipriani and the nationalist movement. In 1937, the labour riots in the oil belt led to the Moyne Commission which resulted in Universal Adult Suffrage in 1946. It was the Labour Movement that initiated the process that culminated with our Independence in 1962.
Indeed organised labour is also to be partially credited with the emergence of a middle class in T&T. The question that we must now ask is, what is the role of the Labour Movement in the 21st century?
Last week the Government launched a new tripartite initiative in the form of the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC).
This decision comes against the backdrop of the combative relationship between elements of the Labour Movement and the former Government. Among the terms of reference of the NTAC are, "enhancing the level of productivity in all sectors of national endeavour" and "development of a national campaign on productivity and proper work ethics." Indeed productivity seems to be a sort of Holy Grail in the T&T business environment.
All speakers at the launch of the NTAC spoke about the current economic environment in which we find ourselves. They all seemed sensitive to the fact that such an environment required due consideration in calibrating the industrial relations climate of the country. Hopefully this will manifest itself in a tempering of expectations.
For their part, the TT Chamber spoke about increasing labour productivity across all sectors.
The OWTU spoke about "swimming together" or "sinking apart." Michael Annisette of the NATUC saw the closure of the ArcelorMittal plant was a "golden opportunity" and called for a tripartite approach to acquire the ailing steel plant to turn it around.
If that ever comes to pass it would be a stunning achievement worthy of earning Mr Annisette a place in the Harvard Business Review.
In his turn at the podium, Joseph Remy of the FITUN warned of the "greed is good" capitalistic approach and suggested a "socialist mantra" a la Bernie Sanders.
In his speech, PM Keith Rowley called for "patriotism to triumph over parochialism" and hoped that "the welfare and wellbeing of the many will maintain the ascendancy over the self-interest and personal aggrandisement of the few."
It wasn't clear whether this was a reference to a specific person or specific group but I'm sure you can make an educated guess.
What is the way forward? Will this committee be another talk shop? The NTAC must first accept that we live in a very competitive world. If we are to diversify the economy we must answer the question, what does the world want that we can produce competitively? For the last 15 to 20 years the answer to that question has been LNG, methanol, ammonia and urea. Going forward we need to be exporting more high value stuff.
The question that arises is whether the current industrial relations system can facilitate increasing competitiveness and while at the same time protecting workers rights. What this committee has to address is finding that balance.
The Governing legislation for Industrial Relations in T&T is the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) of 1972.
Interestingly this predates the surge in industrialisation from the late 1970s to the current day and the emergence of the modern manufacturing sector of T&T.
The social and economic landscape has changed since 1972. There is agreement therefore that the IRA of 1972 needs to be amended to better reflect modern industrial relations practices.
The previous Government had laid an IRA amendment bill in Parliament but it lapsed when the 10th Parliament expired. That bill had elicited some discord from both labour and the business community.
It may be that this NTAC will want to review the IRA and make recommendations to the Attorney General for his consideration.
It should be noted that currently an employee cannot approach the Industrial Court and represent themselves. They must approach the Industrial Court with a trade union. This limits access to the court and means that individual workers do not have unfettered access to the law.
This is a denial of rights that goes counter to the philosophy of freedom of association which also means one must have the freedom to disassociate. It has been argued that the current Industrial Relations Act is more geared to protecting the rights of trade unions rather than the rights of workers.
If we are to "swim together" we must nurture an environment that leads to a harmonious relationship between labour, business and Government. That may be asking for a perfect world and it may an impossible dream. However we must always struggle to work towards that future state. If we fail we will "sink apart."
�2Kevin Ramnarine is the former Energy Minister of Trinidad and Tobago