Finance Minister Colm Imbert says Petrotrin acted unilaterally and never informed the Government that it was starting negotiations for the 2014-2017 period with the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU).
Imbert said the Government only found out that Petrotrin had started negotiations with the union when media reports appeared about a disagreement in the negotiations.
He said the first contact Petrotrin has with him as Finance Minister on the matters by letter were dated December 21.
Imbert said in a letter to the Minister of Finance, Petrotrin advised him that any increase in manpower costs at this time would result in increased losses and further exacerbate its cash flow situation thus exposing Petrotrin to the risk of funds not being available to meet its operational expenses.
Imbert said it was “well known by all concerned that all State enterprises must seek and obtain guidelines from the Public Sector Negotiations Committee, which is a committee of Cabinet Ministers responsible for public sector negotiations, chaired by the Minister of Finance. This procedure has been in place for over 20 years.”
He said he had taken note of statements made by the President General OWTU, Ancel Roget, regarding negotiations between Petrotrin and the OWTU for a new collective agreement for the period 2014-2017, which have broken down and are currently at the Ministry of Labour for conciliation.
“Mr Roget has said that he believes that Petrotrin was mandated by the Minister of Finance to offer the Union a zero per cent increase in salaries and wages for the 2014-2017 period. However, Mr Roget is mistaken.”
Imbert noted the statement made by Stuart Young, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, at the post-Cabinet press conference, held on Thursday that the Government had not authorised Petrotrin to make any offer of any kind for the 2014-2017 period simply because the collective agreement for the previous period, 2011-2014, is currently before the Industrial Court and has not yet been settled or determined.
As a result, he said it is impossible to quantify the cost of an agreement for the subsequent 2014-2017 period.
He said he sought an explanation from Petrotrin and “it was only on Wednesday December 21, 2016 that Petrotrin for the first time sought guidance from the Minister on this matter.”
The matter, according to Minister Imbert, “is now addressing the attention of the Government and will be considered by the Public Sector Negotiations Committee at its next meeting.”
He said in a letter to the Minister of Finance, Petrotrin advised the Minister that any increase in manpower costs at this time would result in increased losses and further exacerbate its cash flow situation thus exposing Petrotrin to the risk of funds not being available to meet its operational expenses.
Efforts to contact Petrotrin Chairman Andrew Jupiter on the situation proved futile.