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Chair of the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC), Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis is inviting trade unions to return to the council.
She made the call after addressing the concerns they raised when they resigned from the council that was set up to bring labour, the private sector and government together on national policies, especially wage negotiations.
In a letter dated March 16, Robinson-Regis noted the concerns stated by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Non-Governmental Organisations (Fitun), the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) and the National Trade Union Centre (Natuc) when they resigned on March 11.
In a release on Friday, she said there were four main points of disagreement recorded: Cabinet’s lack of consultation; a perception of an attempt on government’s part to eradicate trade union representation and collective agreements; lacklustre involvement of government member representatives in the affairs of the council; and, the lack of policy perspectives developed by NTAC that impact the socio-economic development of TT, over the past five years.
With respect to the first issue, Robinson-Regis said the unions knew that a decision had been made to submit NTAC’s broad outline approach for a greater level of interaction between the council and Cabinet.
“In the NTAC’s position paper adopted by the council on March 9, we identified the national development issues on which we believe NTAC should be consulted and we went further in proposing to Cabinet the mechanism which should be used in ensuring the efficacy of the interaction. The labour sector played an active role in NTAC’s arriving at consensus on this item.”
With respect to the second issue, Robinson-Regis said it was difficult to reconcile this perception with the records. She said government included trade union representatives on high level committees mandated to find solutions to national development issues, was proactive in updating labour legislation to deepen and strengthen the scope of protection of workers from unscrupulous employees, including the amendments to the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act and the Industrial Relations Act, and had labour union representation on the Industrial Relations Advisory Committee and the benches of the Industrial Court.
[caption id="attachment_879461" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Trade union leaders, among them James Lambert, front from left, Watson Duke and Ancel Roget, emerge after a meeting on their exit from the National Tripartite Advisory Council on March 12.  Photo by Sureash Cholai -[/caption]
“Why will the government locate NTAC at this juncture as a sub-committee of the cabinet other than the reality being to bring the social partners, including the trade union movement, closer to the decision-making mechanism of governance?”
Robinson-Regis said the inadequate involvement of government representatives in the affairs of NTAC concerned not only the labour and private sector membership but also herself, as well as other government sector members. She said the records will show the issue has been addressed and it has been some time since NTAC failed to have a quorum at its meetings.
Robinson-Regis said several milestones had been established since the council was inaugurated, and these were articulated in a paper titled Assessment of NTAC 2016-2020. She said cabinet had adopted NTAC’s recommendations to enhance the level of productivity and work ethic in TT, and coordination of the implementation of Project Productivity is currently being undertaken by her ministry. She said NTAC’s unsolicited deep dive strategy, designed to ensure implementation of the 141 recommendations of the post-covid19 Roadmap to Recovery Committee, is on its way for cabinet approval and execution. She said another proposal is on its way to cabinet to bring about a resolution to the long outstanding public sector negotiations.
The minister said establishing a national tri-partite body is not easy, but the outcome of NTAC’s meeting on March 9 showed that the institution is at a crossroads.
“We are very much aware that our five years of unrelenting effort are about to bear fruit, outcomes in which your sector, the constituencies whom you represent, and the national community shall inherit. The door is open for the labour sector to return to NTAC. It is where your expertise and your influence can be most constructively and proactively maximised and be most effective.”
 
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