22 May, 2014“It’s time to take a stand for Trinidad & Tobago’, is the rallying cry for a mass demonstration that will take place on Friday 23 May in Port of Spain in protest at government mismanagement.
The demonstration is organized by a coalition of unions and social justice groups.
Their discontent stems from government attempts to privatize key state-owned enterprises and to increase the 40-hour working week, as well as from unprecedented levels of corruption and violence which are threatening the country’s stability and development.
Earlier this month, the planned action was featured in the discussion on “building union power for social and economic justice” at IndustriALL Global Union’s regional conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.
After hearing from representatives from the oilfields workers union (OWTU) and steel workers union (SWUTT) how the current government has failed to implement the ‘Workers’ Agenda’ to which it committed itself in the lead-up to the 2010 elections, conference delegates from thirteen countries wholeheartedly endorsed the mass rally.
Said General Secretary Jyrki Raina in a subsequent letter addressed to its affiliates in Trinidad and Tobago: “IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates stand with you in your struggle for transparent and accountable governance and for the defence of the rights and interests of workers, and wish you every success in your demonstration”.