Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget is warning of impending “catastrophic failure” and possible fatalities at Yara Trinidad Ltd’s ammonia plants in Point Lisas.
Surrounded by workers, Roget, during an interview with reporters at the entrance of the company’s Point Lisas plant yesterday, said management and the regulatory bodies could avert a potential disaster by discontinuing the replacement of the permanent workforce with contract employees.
“This is not about negotiations, this is not about extra pay, this is about lives and limbs and the irresponsibility of the president and the management at Yara Trinidad Ltd and the inefficiencies of the regulatory bodies to regulate situations like this.
“So where you have a lot of near misses taking place, bet your bottom dollar if that is not addressed what will sit at the top of that is a fatality,” warned Roget.
He said the union would have negotiated a collective agreement with terms and conditions and classifications for jobs, but he claimed permanent workers have been pushed aside for contract workers.
“What you have is a proliferation of contractors and contract employees who have very little or absolutely no knowledge of the plant,” he added.
Recalling that last year the workers staged a one-week strike over similar issues, Roget warned of similar action if the company, the OSH Authority and the Ministry of Labour fail to address this matter.
He also claimed there is usually corruption in workplaces with a proliferation of contract work.
OWTU Yara branch secretary, Keiron Simmons, claimed that 60 per cent of the permanent workforce has been replaced by contract workers in the mechanical, electrical, and operations sections, resulting in an unsafe workplace.
He alleged that recently a worker suffered lacerations to three fingers and an “unsupervised” crane crashed into the main gate.
Simmons, who is also the branch safety health committee president, said, “What we trying to do here is to alert the nation that this situation can cause catastrophic problems at this site. The catastrophic problems that we talking about would be issues we would have had with our LTS, issues we would have had on the plants where it pertains to dangerous situations whereby life and limb would have been lost.”
Meanwhile, OWTU Yara branch vice president Nigel Boodoo believes the operations at the company are also in jeopardy. He claimed that contract labour does not come with the assurance of 100 per cent reliability on repairs. Underscoring the importance of the plant as a foreign exchange income generator, he said, “They (workers) are here to secure their safety and health and the reliability of the asset towards its sustainability as a national income generator of forex.”
Yara: Importance of constructive dialogue
But in a media statement following the claims by the union and its senior members, the company yesterday reaffirmed its dedication to working in partnership with the union. It did not respond specifically to the allegations.
Yara Trinidad Ltd stated, “While we were surprised by today’s events and note some serious inaccuracies in the statements made, we remain steadfast in our belief in the principles of sound Industrial Relations and the vital importance of constructive dialogue rooted in good faith discussions.”
The company assured that its policies and procedures adhere to strict safety protocols, ethical standards, and corporate governance frameworks, certified to relevant standards and codes, including the competency assurance standards governing their workforce.
“Safety and Compliance are fundamental to maintaining our ‘License to Operate’,” the company added.
Yara Trinidad Ltd is a subsidiary of the international company, Yara International ASA, one of the largest fertilizer producers in the world, comprising facilities and commercial offices in over 50 countries.
Yara Trinidad Limited manages and operates two ammonia plants.