Trinidad and Tobago - 2012

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Population: 1,341,000
Capital: Port-of-Spain
Serious violations of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework were seen in 2011, especially in the public sector and at an industrial testing and inspection company. Anti-union practices to obstruct workers’ rights to organise and collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
persisted, and the serious obstacles to the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike remained in place.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)

reported violations - 2012

Murders: none reported
Attempted Murders: none reported
Threats: none reported
Injuries: none reported
Arrests: none reported
Imprisonments: none reported
Dismissals: none reported
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Background

In August 2011, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declared a limited State of Emergency, supposedly in response to a surge in violence on the country’s streets and to combat drug trafficking. The National Workers’ Union, together with the rest of the labour movement, protested against the measure, arguing that the State of Emergency limited civil liberties, including the workers’ right to assemble, and was being used to obstruct the trade union movement’s campaign against the government policy to cap wages.

The trade unions of Trinidad and Tobago organised mass mobilisations and protests during 2011, in response to measures curtailing labour rights and the administration’s accusations that the trade union actions to defend workers’ rights were aimed at destabilising the government.

ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 1,341,000
Capital: Port-of-Spain

reported violations- 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in law

Although basic trade union rights are guaranteed, a number of excessive restrictions apply. The 1972 Industrial Relations industrial relations The individual and collective relations and dealings between workers and employers at the workplace, as well as the institutional interaction between unions, employers and also the government.

See social dialogue Act allows workers to form or join unions of their own choosing. The right to collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
is also guaranteed, but the law only provides for mandatory recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. of a trade union when it represents 51% or more of the workers in a specified bargaining unit bargaining unit A group of workers within a particular company, establishment, industry or occupation that constitutes an appropriate unit for the purpose of collective bargaining.

See bargaining agent
. Furthermore, all collective agreements must be for a maximum of five years and a minimum of three years, which makes it almost impossible for workers on short-term contracts to be covered by such agreements. While the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is recognised – except for members of the teaching service and employees of the Central Bank – it is coupled with many restrictions. Strikes can be prohibited where the government considers that the national interest is threatened, or at the request of one party provided that the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is not declared by a majority union. Also, lawful strikes can only be called over unresolved “interest” disputes, i.e. concerning the formulation of terms and conditions of employment. All strikes are banned in “essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
 ”, the list of which exceeds the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights definition by including, for example, the public school bus service.
Additional information regarding the legislation
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 1,341,000
Capital: Port-of-Spain

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

Right to organise limited in scope: Although the law states that workers can form and join trade unions, in practice everyone working in so-called “essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
 ”, which include domestic workers, drivers, gardeners, etc., are not recognised as workers and cannot therefore legally join unions. The problems with obtaining union recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. continued, owing to manipulation by the state.
Restrictions on the right to strike: Despite the many formalities and restrictions on the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , a number of unions did call work stoppages in several sectors, as they have done for the last few years. In some cases, the state intervened to stop strikes, penalising the workers involved.
Collective bargaining hampered: Many unions’ collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
efforts were blocked by employers’ delaying tactics. The state also repeatedly refused to negotiate collective agreements with public sector unions.
Government refuses to reform labour legislation: The government continued to refuse to reform the law on essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
 and collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
to bring it into line with ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights minimum standards.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 1,341,000
Capital: Port-of-Spain

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Violations

T&TEC refuses to discuss allowance cut: In July 2011, the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union, representing oil workers at the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC), staged protests against the company’s decision to eliminate the cost of living allowance granted to workers, as announced within the framework of collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
negotiations being held with the union. The management remained firm in its refusal to discuss this cut.
Anti-union dismissals at Non Destructive Testers Ltd.: In December 2011, the National Workers’ Union (NWU) denounced the anti-union policy at the industrial testing and inspection firm Non Destructive Testers Ltd., which started to fire and threaten workers that had formed a union to defend their rights.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 1,341,000
Capital: Port-of-Spain

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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