With last week’s protest action by the Chinese workers still fresh in the public’s consciousness comes a new revelation of the apparent involvement of T&T firms in the exploitation of Chinese labour on local projects.

The Sunday Express obtained a copy of the employee contract of a local firm hired by the Government via the EFCL to do work on the Barataria Junior Secondary and Couva West Junior Secondary. The firm, Trinity Housing, is a local company owned by Rahael Holdings Limited, Tradezone #1 El Socorro Ext, San Juan. Trinity Housing sourced and hired Chinese labourers to work on the two schools.

The contract between workers and the employer, Trinity Housing, is written in Chinese and English. The document titled ’Contract Agreement with Worker’ states that the contract is for an initial period of two years, with an option for either party to renew it from year to year after, to a total of five years.

The contract also states that the workers are holders of valid work permits for Trinidad and Tobago.

Workers are further told that they will be paid a basic salary rate of $16.20 per hour, net of all taxes and deductions for the first 120 hours per forthnight. Workers are also told that after 120 hours per fortnight, they will be entitled to a rate of $20.50 per hour.

They are promised housing facilities which includes ’no more than four people sharing each room, a separate bed and bedding, fans or other ventilation for each room in housing, adequate storage space for personal effects and adequate lavatory and bathing facilities.’

They are also promised ’free transportation’ from the housing facility to work sites, airport upon arrival and departure, to and from medical facilities in case of sickness and to and from the bank for the purpose of establishing a bank account.

However, the February pay slip of one of the workers with Trinity Housing, obtained by the Sunday Express, shows deductions for National Insurance and Health Surcharge.

And with the contract asking for 120 weeks of work per fortnight at $16.20 per hour, this breaks down to 60 hours per week, a violation of T&T’s labour laws which mandate a maximum of 40 hours per week, and after that, extra payment for overtime.

The contract also tells the worker that ’for each of the first six months of the contract, the company will withhold $1,500 up to a total of $9,000 which may be used by the company in the event a worker wishes to return to China before the expiration of five years, to purchase the return ticket.’ The contract, however, states that the worker is granted a work permit for one year and is bound to work for two years with an option to renew their contracts.

Fifty workers from Trinity Construction had earlier this year, on August 24, had staged a silent protest outside the Chinese Embassy in St Clair , protesting non-payment of overtime monies for the past year and not getting meals for two consecutive days.

For local contractor Emile Elias, the issue is much bigger than grievances between workers and contractors. Elias contends that the labour laws of T&T were being seriously violated by such contracts in that they do not uphold the required working hours, proper humane conditions and proper payment of overtime.

’These contracts appear to be illegal on the face of it and the question is, why is the Government allowing its contractors to sign illegal contracts with workers?’ he wondered in an interview on Friday.

Elias also believed that these contracts point to a serious violation of the laws governing work permits in T&T, noting that Government and local companies were mandated to advertise available jobs, and then prove to the Work Permit Committee that there were no available nationals to do these jobs before work permits could be granted to foreigners.

The construction industry is hardly one that does not have local workers to complete jobs, he notes.

Elias says, too, that work permits are normally issued for one year and renewed after, so the fact that the company is making its workers pay their own way back (an estimated $17,000TT) if they leave before five years appears to be a violation of the law as well.

Noting that he himself has often had to endure strict rules when applying for work permits for Caricom nationals to work in T&T’s construction sector, Elias said:

’Why is the general rule of advertising for the jobs to prove you cannot get nationals to do it is not imposed on contract labour? It would seem that the Ministry of Labour has not enforced the laws of this country and that is a very serious situation.’

’It would seem to me that there is a cartel-workers are being hired from China through local labour brokers and these are powerful politicians, there seems to be a political mafia here that hires them, and these workers are being treated like slaves and can get no redress from their own country and ours. That’s a national shame.’