Prime Minister-appointed mediator Dr Lenny Saith has failed to break the long-standing stalemate between the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) after the second rounds of mediation talks yesterday.
A ’disappointed’ Saith said while the both sides were able to agree on five of the seven outstanding issues, the two linchpin issues-salary allowances and the fate of the 72 suspended workers-created a deadlock and effectively broke the negotiation process.
Saith said while there was ’broad agreement on five of the seven issues’, including the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) and Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP), he was unable to resolve the two major union issues.
’I indicated to them (union) that the suspension of the 72 workers was not in my mandate, but I was prepared to put it on the table,’ Saith said. The industrial action taken and charges laid against the suspended workers also contributed to the deadlock.
Saith said the stalemate occurred even though both sides met halfway on the back pay issue.
’The last proposal from the company was $112 million, while the union countered with $240 million. I was able to get the company to move to $140 million and the union to move between $190 to $200 million, but after that no one was moving anymore,’ Saith said.
Though Saith described himself as ’disappointed’ by the lack of settlement, he said this complex issue will not be resolved anytime soon.
’We agreed to end the discussions without a final settlement,’ Saith said at a media conference at the Eric Williams Financial Building, Port of Spain.
Despite the impasse, Saith said neither side was too rigid in its approach, but felt the situation had reached a stage where only ’more formal negotiations’ will be able to satisfy both sides.
Saith came under fire from the union representatives just after the end of the second meeting at an impromptu CWU gathering outside the TSTT House on Edward Street, Port of Spain, yesterday.
CWU advisor, former union president Lyle Townsend, called for more vigilant and militant action in order to take the fight to the next level.
’ Two governments already fall at the feet of the CWU,’ he warned.
