TUC DOUBLE SPEAK

The Minister for Labour Pia Glover Rolle was frank and direct about a statement that Obie Ferguson, head of the Trades Union Congress, issued in the press seeking to raise alarm, it appears in the population, about the state of labour relations.  The Minister has signed scores of trade agreements with labour unions, settling, years’ long disputes since she has been in office since 2021.  Mr. Ferguson himself has benefited handsomely by signing the agreement between the PLP  and the Trades Union Congress which he heads.  Before the general election, the PLP promised to deliver and they have, including giving him the title King’s Counsel. That apparently that isn’t enough, he now wants  the government who promised to  assist in the repairs of the House of Labour on Wulff Road, the TUC’s headquarters, to fix the entire building at public expense.  Because this is not going the way he wants, he is in the press making  noises which suggest the sky is falling.  Mrs. Rolle said that she does not agree with his assessment and showed the facts to prove it. There are not as he suggests 14  strike certificates approved by the Department of Labour.  The last Minister of Labour under the PLP was Shane Gibson and one of the things he always shared with his colleagues is the unreliability and fickleness of Mr. Ferguson’s words spoken to the government.  This seems to be a pattern of conduct.  Other unionists are pushing back telling the government to ignore these public protestations because they are simply a naked grab in a Machiavellian maneuver for power.