CWU Sets Out TSTT and Hilton Agenda for Proposed PM Talks

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The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association has circulated arrangements for a Labour Movement march and rally on Friday 30 October. Its public WhatsApp notice, posted at 6:54 a.m. on Thursday, names Memorial Park in Port of Spain as the meeting location and 9 a.m. as the time.

Sources: TTUTA public WhatsApp channel, 29 Oct ↗

TTUTA asks members attending to wear the union’s magenta polo shirt and bring an umbrella. The notice says free transport is available and directs members to contact their executive to make arrangements.

The post is a union invitation to members. It does not announce school closures or a Ministry of Education decision about attendance, and gives no detailed march route. Members seeking transport or other arrangements should check directly with TTUTA.

Sources: TTUTA public WhatsApp channel, 29 Oct ↗

The Guardian reported on 29 October that the planned march would leave Memorial Park at 9 a.m., pass the Queen’s Park Savannah and the Prime Minister’s office, and continue to Woodford Square for a rally expected by noon. It said the PNM planned to participate. The newspaper reported that police were seeking specifics about the application; this account does not establish final traffic restrictions.

Sources: Trinidad Guardian, 29 Oct ↗

NATUC general secretary Michael Annisette said the concerns extended beyond wages and called for outstanding government negotiations to be concluded collectively. He rejected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s suggestion that unions protest only under an East Indian prime minister, citing marches under other administrations. These are the union’s response and explanation of its position.

Sources: Trinidad Guardian, 29 Oct ↗

In a further Guardian Media report published by CNC3 on Thursday evening, Michael Annisette said unions rejected a police request to postpone Friday’s march, attributing the request to resources committed to Tobago Carnival. He said the march would proceed and called for collective talks on outstanding negotiations. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar urged people to avoid the proposed route and criticised the protest’s political alignment. Her warning does not establish that violence will occur, and the union’s account is not a published police explanation or final traffic order.

Sources: Guardian Media via CNC3 RSS, 29 Oct ↗

The Trinidad Express reported on 30 October that the unions had received permission from the Commissioner of Police. Its account says Annisette displayed the authorisation at his news conference, after describing earlier police requests to postpone the event. The report lists the start at Memorial Park at 9 a.m. This adds a reported approval to the earlier account of the postponement discussions; it does not establish the exact permit conditions or road restrictions, because Luk It Hyah has not obtained those documents.

Sources: Trinidad Express, 30 Oct ↗

In a statement reported by CNC3 on Friday 30 October, Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles accused the Prime Minister of welcoming unions when seeking electoral support but condemning them when they demanded accountability. She rejected the use of ethnic identity to deflect criticism and said the office of prime minister represents all citizens. These are Beckles’s criticisms, rather than verified findings about either side’s motives. The report also set out Persad-Bissessar’s defence of her Government’s record on backpay, salaries and labour legislation. That statement alone did not establish the march’s turnout or outcome.

Sources: CNC3 / Guardian Media, 30 Oct, 10:13 a.m. AST ↗

On Friday 30 October, Guardian Media reported that workers began marching from Memorial Park shortly after 9 a.m. Its account, published by CNC3 at 12:15 p.m. Trinidad time, described the march as ongoing at that reporting time and said twelve unions had mobilised. Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles and MP Stuart Young were among the participants it identified. This adds a reported event to the earlier plans; it does not establish an exact crowd size or the rally’s eventual outcome.

Sources: Guardian Media / CNC3, 30 Oct, 12:15 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

The report quotes Beckles and Young criticising the Prime Minister’s treatment of protesting unions. Their comments continue the political dispute already described here; they are attributed opinions rather than findings about motives. A further IzzSo account also describes attendance at the march. Its agreement is not counted as an independent headcount, and no final police traffic or incident report was obtained.

Sources: Guardian Media / CNC3, 30 Oct, 12:15 p.m. Trinidad time ↗ · IzzSo, 30 Oct, 12:14 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

At the Friday rally in Woodford Square, union speakers called for outstanding collective agreements and payments to be settled and defended peaceful protest as a means of holding governments accountable, according to Guardian Media’s fuller report carried by CNC3. Michael Annisette rejected the suggestion that labour challenges only one party; that is his account of the movement’s position, not an independently verified history of every protest.

Sources: Guardian Media / CNC3, 30 Oct, 9:40 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

The later Guardian Media accounts also describe disagreement within organised labour over participation. One quotes the Public Services Association’s criticism of marching alongside former government representatives, while an OWTU member says he attended personally despite his union’s official absence. These contrasting positions do not establish a single union consensus.

Sources: Guardian Media / CNC3, 30 Oct, 9:39 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

There is an unresolved timing difference within the publisher’s reports: the earlier account said the march began shortly after 9 a.m., while a later account describes a start nearly two hours after the scheduled 9 a.m. time. No original police timing record or independently verified crowd count was obtained; the different departure accounts remain attributed rather than silently reconciled.

Sources: Guardian Media / CNC3, 30 Oct, 9:39 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

After the march on Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar described it as unsuccessful and accused its backers of racial and political hostility, according to TTT News and the Guardian. She also thanked police and unions that continued talks with the Government. These are her assessments; the reviewed reports do not provide an independently verified attendance figure or establish the demonstrators’ motives. Her criticism contrasts with the unions’ explanation of their wage and wider social concerns, and with the opposition responses already set out here.

Sources: TTT News, 30 Oct, 5:14 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

In its report dated 31 October, CNC3 said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar urged unions to pursue dialogue with the Government after Friday’s march. The report attributes to her a figure of about 400 people at its peak and criticism of the protest’s political alignment. These are her assessments; this article has no independent attendance count or finding about participants’ motives.

Sources: Guardian Media / CNC3, 31 Oct, 9:41 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

In the same report, Michael Annisette acknowledged that the march drew fewer participants than some earlier demonstrations but defended it as successful. He said supporters along the route also mattered, disputed portrayals of the turnout and argued that unions must engage politicians over laws and workers’ wider living conditions. That adds his later response to the disagreement already described here, rather than resolving the competing accounts of attendance.

Sources: Guardian Media / CNC3, 31 Oct, 9:41 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

In a further report published by CNC3 on 1 November, Michael Annisette said NATUC remained willing to meet the Prime Minister over workers’ concerns and wider national issues. The Communication Workers’ Union also called for frank, collective engagement involving the Government, employers and unions. Both responses distinguish willingness to talk from agreement with the Government; Annisette said the right to protest remained. No confirmed meeting, negotiated outcome or independent crowd count is supplied.

Sources: CNC3, 1 Nov, 9:47 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

Speaking to Guardian Media on Monday 2 November, CWU secretary general Joanne Ogeer identified TSTT’s sustainability, AMPLIA’s operations and the proposed Hilton sale as priorities for talks with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. She said earlier correspondence was acknowledged but no meeting agreed. Her questions about an investigation and Hilton’s profitability are union positions, without a verified investigation outcome or audited financial finding in this report.

Sources: Guardian Media / CNC3, 3 Nov, 1:39 p.m. Trinidad time ↗