Trinidad & Tobago:Workers strike forces PETROTRIN refinery shutdown

PETROTRIN oil refinery in Trinidad & Tobago. PHOTO/File

Long lines were being formed outside gas stations in Port of Spain, on Tuesday as motorists sought to purchase gasoline after the powerful Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) said it had forced a shutdown of the operations of the state-owned PETROTRIN oil refinery.

“Contrary to what has been put out by the management, as we speak, the entire PETROTRIN operation is down. The producing fields, the marine operations and also the entire refinery is down and therefore the refinery is non-functional,” said OWTU president general Ancel Roget.

Roget said refinery workers downed tools over the weekend because Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine had announced at a post-Cabinet briefing that Cabinet had decided to grant a licence to a local operative, a subsidiary of Bunkering International, to run a major bunkering facility in Trinidad & Tobago waters.

He said the workers also were angry that the company had reneged on a promise in February to pay them their variable pay and also to fill 500 vacancies.

Roget called on the government to publicly state the names of the owners of the company, adding “we have been doing some research and we can find no local ownership, no names of this company they have granted the licence to”.

The OWTU said it is concerned that the bunkering company could milk millions of dollars from the state owned oil company.

Roget warned motorists that “as the time wears on, this situation will be further compounded”, adding that the union would be meeting with Ramnarine to discuss the matter.

“Whether workers go back to work or not, we cannot guarantee the type of stability that is required for the level of productivity to take the company forward,” Roget told reporters on Monday night, adding “the onus is on the management part, on the part of board of directors and part of Cabinet and Government to procure a particular climate to ensure that stability and industrial peace are maintained”. -(CMC)