Workers’ Protection: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago · 2014-06-10 · The research outline required a comprehensive review of the existing worker protection system in Trinidad

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DrDrDrDrDr. Roodal Moonilal. Roodal Moonilal. Roodal Moonilal. Roodal Moonilal. Roodal Moonilal

ILO Caribbean Studies and Working Papers No. 7

Copyright © International Labour Organization 2001First published 2001

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Moonilal, RWorkers’ Protection: The Case of Trinidad and TobagoPort of Spain, ILO Caribbean Office, 2001

ISBN 92-2-112576-9ISSN 1020-7821

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Printed in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

ForewordForewordForewordForewordForeword

iii

In 1998, the International Labour Conference discussed a newly proposed instrumentthat was intended to enhance the protection of workers working under conditions of“contract labour”. However, it proved difficult to reach international consensus on whatprecisely the term contract labour represented. Therefore the ILO was requested by itstripartite constituents to carry out more research in order to determine the status ofworkers’ protection. The outcome of this research should then inform futurediscussions about the need to introduce new international regulations to better protectworkers with atypical employment contracts.

Twelve countries were selected globally to conduct this research, including Trinidad andTobago. Upon the recommendation of the ILO Caribbean Office, Dr. Roodal Moonilalwas awarded the research contract for Trinidad and Tobago in 1999.

The research outline required a comprehensive review of the existing worker protectionsystem in Trinidad and Tobago, including conditions of employment and remuneration,occupational health and safety conditions, social security, freedom of association,collective bargaining and access to justice.

Dr. Moonilal’s research findings were accepted by ILO Headquarters and, in conjunctionwith the research results of other researchers participating in the global research project,now provide the background document for the next round of discussions on workers’protection at the International Labour Conference in Geneva in 2003, under the title of“Employment Relationship (Scope).”

In the light of the relevance of these findings for workers’ protection policies in Trinidadand Tobago and other Caribbean countries and because of the dearth of information inthis area, the ILO Caribbean Office decided to publish an edited version of Dr. Moonilal’spaper as part of its Studies and Working Papers series.

Dr. Moonilal has, in the meantime, been appointed as Senator and as Junior Minister inthe Ministry of Labour, Manpower Development and Industrial Relations.

Willi Momm,DirectorILO Caribbean Office

Foreword iii

List of Tables and Figures vi

1. Introduction 11.1 Methodology 11.2 Framework for Analyzing Worker Protection 3

2. Review of the Labour Market and Economy 52.1 Impact of Structural Adjustment Programmes 52.2 Post-Structural Adjustment Period 82.3 Changing Status of Trade Unions 9

3. Employment and Non-Employment Relationships 133.1 Employment Relationships 133.2 Triangular Employment Relationships 163.3 Self-Employment (outside economic or other dependency) 193.4 Self-Employment in situations of economic or other dependency 21

4. Case Studies 264.1 The Case of Truck Drivers 264.2 The Case of Sales Persons in Department Stores 294.3 The Case of Construction Workers 324.4 The Case of the Private Security Industry Workers 38

5. Conclusion 46

Bibliography and References 48

Appendices1 GDP Composition - 1997 and 1998 542 Distribution of Persons with Jobs by Industry Group and Sex, 1987-1996 553A Sample Employment Contract for a Store Attendant 563B Sample Individual Employment Contract for PSI Employees 57

TTTTTable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contents

v

List of TList of TList of TList of TList of Tables and Fables and Fables and Fables and Fables and Figurigurigurigurigureseseseses

TTTTTablesablesablesablesables

1. Levels of Worker Protection 32. Summary Status of Workers Severed and Severance Payments 1984-1994 73. Characteristics of the Labour Force (1992) 84. Participation Rates by Sex (%) 1984-1996 95. Unemployment Rate by Sex (%) 1984-1996 96. Membership Change for Major Trade Unions 1980-1998 117. Non-wage benefits accruing to organized workers according to

Collective Agreements 278. Company Safety Records 1989-1995 34

FiguresFiguresFiguresFiguresFigures1. Unemployment rate 1973-1997 9

vi

ISBN 92-2-112576-9

ISBN 92-2-112576-9

The objective of this country study is topresent an analysis of the status of “workerprotection” in Trinidad and Tobago. In sodoing the study will identify and describethe main situations in which workers lacksufficient protection and identify theproblem areas occasioned by a lack of orinsufficient protection for workers. This isdone with a view to making recommendationsand suggestions towards better effectingpolicies, regulatory mechanisms and avenuesfor worker protection. While an appraisal ofthe law and procedures is critical to therequirements for this paper, matterspertaining to wider changes in labour, workand organization are also critical in so faras they demand fresh policy approaches tocurrent labour market dilemmas.

Precious little information exists on workerprotection in Trinidad and Tobago. A lot ofprimary material exists on several aspectsof labour and industrial relations. Topicssuch as labour history, labour marketanalysis, trade unionism and industrialrelations law have dominated the purviewof policy and the academic treatment oflabour. The extensive legal frameworkintroduced in the mid-1960s inspired severalstudies on the efficacy of legislativeinterventions from the perspective ofemployment regulation and the containmentof industrial conflict. Direct reference to thelabour administration and protection was

sparse. Based on a review of availablelabour-related material, one can say thatcollectively the topics covered includedlabour history, labour legislation and state-union relations.The approach utilized waseither an analysis of the political economyframework or legal research. Somescholars1 focused on analyzing labourmarket imbalances and evaluating thestructure and functioning of industrialrelations procedures and institutions.Hitherto, there has been little work on aspectsof industrial relations outside of the industrialrelations sub-topics and within themainstream collective relations framework.

This meant that, given this predicament, thereis little research to depend on for guidelineson how to conceive an approach or a model todescribe and analyze the state of workerprotection. This paper, therefore, uses amixture of legal research methods such asanalyzing labour legislation and a qualitativemethodology in obtaining data on workers.2

1.1 Methodology1.1 Methodology1.1 Methodology1.1 Methodology1.1 Methodology

The study utilizes qualitative data in the main.Figures and tables are drawn from CentralStatistical Office’s (CSO) data and trendsfrom firm level data. Interviews wereconducted with trade union officers,Industrial Court judges, workers andemployers. This method was useful in

IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction 1

1See Henry 1972 and Thomas 19722For a thorough discussion on methodology in Industrial Relations, see Strauss and Whitfield 1998.

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Workers’ Protection: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago

obtaining anecdotal evidence with sharperinsights into the real life problemsencountered by several categories ofworkers. Secondary research was done onkey concepts and linkages to other researchoutputs. Data was gathered from severalsources, including the following:

1. The National Union of DomesticWorkers (NUDE).

2. The All Trinidad Sugar and GeneralWorkers’ Union (ATS/GWTU).

3. The Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union(OWTU).

4. The Steel Workers’ Union of Trinidadand Tobago (SWUTT).

5. The Estate Police Association (EPA) fordata on the private security workers

6. The library of the Industrial Court.

7. Officials of the Central Statistical Office(CSO).

8. The independent transport companies.

Small groups of workers such as privatesecurity employees, truck drivers and storeattendants were interviewed to cross-checkand corroborate data obtained from the unionsand the employers. This gives a moreauthentic account of the conditions facingworkers.

The case studies of truck drivers in the haulageindustry, salespersons in large stores,construction workers and low-paid workersin the Private Security Industry (PSI) areplaced within a framework of distinctemployment relationships.

An analysis of the shortcomings withinstandard wage-earning employment is alsogiven in so far as they relate to workerprotection and the features of a typicalcollective agreement. Particular focus isplaced on how non-standard employment isintegrated alongside regular employment andthe problems encountered with thisjuxtaposition, from the perspective of theworker. The trends in the use of non-standardemployment within established and/orunionized workplaces are alluded to in thecontext of changing labour relations. Suchinsights were obtained from trade union dataand interviews with industrial and labourrelations officers in the field. This researchline brings to the fore the problems ofdisguised employment or misclassificationof workers.

An overview of the “triangular relationships”with reference to the construction industryis also presented, where the status of allthree principal parties is examined in relationto the duties and responsibilities inherent inthe employment relationship. In this context,one notices the rise of disguised employmentrelationships which seeks inadvertently orotherwise to undermine worker protectionand the freedom to associate.

This study places particular emphasis onthe legal and procedural avenues for workerprotection, representation and redress ofselected categories of workers in the labourmarket. To this effect, extensive researchof legal texts, legislative provisions andadministrative guidelines which seek toprotect those workers in question wascarried out at the Ministry of Labour andthe Industrial Court.

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2. Framework for Analysing Worker2. Framework for Analysing Worker2. Framework for Analysing Worker2. Framework for Analysing Worker2. Framework for Analysing WorkerProtectionProtectionProtectionProtectionProtection

The matrix presented in Table 1 is meant toconceptualize an approach for examining“worker protection”. Worker protection canperhaps be structured in three levels. The firstone is that of basic or fundamental humanrights such as the freedom to associate andorganize based upon the ILO conventions andnational laws3. The constitution of Trinidadand Tobago, at section 4, guarantees certainfundamental human rights and freedoms.Section (4,j) in particular, guarantees thefreedom of association and assembly. Theconstitution provides for a fundamentalright, which can find expression at the levelof the workplace. The economy-wide

Levels of Collective Individual Source ofProtection Arrangements Arrangements Protection

Basic Guaranteed Exist but not Constitution,effected Administrative

Orders, New Laws

Secondary Guaranteed May or may not Laws, Collectiveexist Agreements

Tertiary Some protection Absent Minimal statutorymechanisms andprivatearrangements

TTTTTable 1: Levable 1: Levable 1: Levable 1: Levable 1: Levels of Wels of Wels of Wels of Wels of Worker Prorker Prorker Prorker Prorker Protectionotectionotectionotectionotection

legislative protection afforded to all workerswill also constitute basic rights, such as,for example, minimum wage and maternityprotection.

The secondary level concerns rights at workas stipulated by labour law or collectiveagreements. Examples are health and safetylegislation, maternity benefits, retrenchmentand termination benefits.

The tertiary level concerns economic andfinancial protection, such as social securitycoverage as expressed in pension and savingplans, etc. One can thus match such levelsof protection with the current status ofworkers, whether they are covered bycollective (contractual) or individualarrangements.

A distinction must be made between socialsecurity and worker protection. Socialsecurity is a vast area that includes state

and private protective systems for social,economic and financial security for thevarious strata of the citizenry. Workerprotection, on the other hand, may refer to

3Particularly Convention No. 87, Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 1948;

and Convention No. 98, Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, 1949

legal and industrial protective measuresgeared towards protecting and enhancingthe quality of the working lives of all citizens.At the secondary level, the rights andprotection afforded will more likely belocated in the body of collective agreementsat the enterprise level.

This study intends to locate workers fromthe sectors selected (the case studies) withinthe matrix in Table 1. In so doing, a

consistent general framework is employedwhich allows for some comparative analysisacross local industrial sectors and evenacross national labour markets. In termsof collective rights, one may also wish tonote the movement away fromcollectivization with the growth of non-union workplaces and non-standardemployment practices. Such phenomenonwill be discussed within the selected casestudies.

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Review of theReview of theReview of theReview of theReview of theLabour Market and EconomyLabour Market and EconomyLabour Market and EconomyLabour Market and EconomyLabour Market and Economy

The Trinidad and Tobago labour market hasbeen undergoing pressures associated withthe employment impact of structuraladjustment programmes (SAPs). Thesestrains have made the labour market morefluid and prone to fragmentation. Newmethods of labour utilization and workorganization have both colluded to influencechanges, while at the same time, thoseprocesses have been subjected to influencesdue to a measure of labour market rigidity.

Worker protection, or lack thereof, can thusbe placed within the context of structuraladjustment imperatives and their impact uponlabour market institutions (trade unions,collective bargaining, employers’associations, etc.). The social and economicchanges embarked upon since 19834 have hada significant impact upon labour and industrialrelations. In turn, levels of worker protectioncan also be linked to the changing social andeconomic policy framework. Trinidad andTobago remains an energy- and oil-driveneconomy in the main. However, over therecent years specific government policieshave resulted in a lessening of dependencyon the oil and petrochemical sectors. In theearly 1980s, the oil sector contributed onaverage 25% of the country’s GrossDomestic Product (GDP). This has beenreducing over the years to the point where

oil revenues were contributing around 16%of the country’s foreign exchange earningsby the mid-1990s. A profile of Trinidad andTobago’s GDP composition over the period1997-1998 is provided in Appendix 1.

2.1 Impact of Structural Adjustment2.1 Impact of Structural Adjustment2.1 Impact of Structural Adjustment2.1 Impact of Structural Adjustment2.1 Impact of Structural AdjustmentProgrammesProgrammesProgrammesProgrammesProgrammes

The explicit conditions of the adjustmentpackages impacted upon labour and createdan employment fall out. Trinidad and Tobagoentered into the International Monetary Fund(IMF)/World Bank arrangements in late1988. The country’s first loan arrangementwith the IMF was for US $85 million underthe Fund’s Compensatory Funding Facility(CFF) in November 1988; the second, aStand-By Agreement, was for US $99 millionin 1989. A structural adjustment loan of US$40 million was negotiated with the WorldBank in January 1990.

By 1992 the Government’s external debtwas estimated at US $1,354 million anddomestic debt at US $5,202.1 million(Review of the Economy 1992). Between1982 and 1992 external debt serviceincreased threefold to US $329 million.

In 1993 alone, the Government paid backUS $652.5 million in debt; this would havebeen higher had it not been for the fact that

4 The process of adjustment in Trinidad and Tobago begun in the early 1980s. The Government hadestablished a Commission (the Demas Task Force) to undertake a multi-sectoral development planfor the period 1983-1986. The ensuing report “Imperatives of Adjustment” recommended the creation ofnew export industries, the development of tourism and greater investment in the agriculture sector.(Henry and Williams 1991:309).

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Government had rescheduled the paymentof almost US $800 million in 1988. Whilethe level of recurrent expenditure remainedapproximately $6,239 million from 1983 to1992, interest payment on external debtsoared from 3.2% in 1983 to 20.9% ofrecurrent expenditure in 1992. The debtservice ratio crept up from 23% in 1988 to37.7% in 1992 and stood at 34.8% in 1993.

While such a financial leakage was takingplace, public sector workers were subjectedto an across-the-board cut of 10% and a wagefreeze from 1983. Government’s expenditurein the period of adjustment on the socialservices fell by almost 10% from 1987 to1989; for example, expenditure on healthwhich was 17% of recurrent expenditure in1982 fell to 8% in 1989. In other words, realper capita expenditure on health fell from$519million in 1981 to $197million in 1991.5

Similar declines were registered ineducation, infrastructure and on publictransportation.6

The major conditions focused on curbinggovernment expenditure, monetary andexchange rate policy and on price and importcontrol. 7 This paved the way forprivatization and divestment of state assets,trade liberalization, removal of the negative

list and the lifting of restrictions on theimportation of subsidized foreign goods.8

On the employment side there was anexpected decline in employment levelsthrough retrenchment, downsizing and a rangeof voluntary termination of employmentprogrammes (VTEP), a contraction in thepublic service, sub-contracting of auxiliaryfunctions and public sector managementreform.

In the period 1988-93, employmentcontracted in the petroleum industries by13.4%9 and 12.1% in electricity, gas andwater. An interesting phenomenon isobserved when many established, unionizedenterprises go out of business and new non-union enterprises are opened. Between1985-1993, 1,694 businesses went out ofoperation and 6,698 workers wereretrenched in the private and publicsectors.10 In 1992 the Minister of Labourreported to the International LabourOrganization (ILO) that 10,000 cases ofretrenchment were reported to his Ministrybetween 1986-199011. The retrenchmentwould have been a result of both liquidation/receivership and company restructuring.Table 2 gives the summary of the status ofseverance payments (inclusive of voluntary

5 IADB Working Papers Report 19936 Maharaj 1992: 75-797 Pantin 1989:158 For a general discussion on the implications of SAPs on the Caribbean state sector, see J. Khan,1994, “Adjustment Programmes and Public Sector Management” (pp. 88-99) in J.G. LaGuerre (ed.)Structural Adjustment: Public Policy and Administration in the Caribbean. Trinidad: School ofContinuing Studies (UWI).9The petroleum sector employs less than 4% of the labour force even though it generates the bulk of

export earnings.10 National Report for the World Summit for Social Development 1995.11

International Labour Conference, Provisional Record, 79th Session, Geneva, 1992, 10/1.

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TTTTTable 2: Summary Status of Wable 2: Summary Status of Wable 2: Summary Status of Wable 2: Summary Status of Wable 2: Summary Status of Workers Sevorkers Sevorkers Sevorkers Sevorkers Severerererered and Seved and Seved and Seved and Seved and Severance Paymentserance Paymentserance Paymentserance Paymentserance Payments (Inclusive of Voluntary Separation Plans) 1984-1994. (Inclusive of Voluntary Separation Plans) 1984-1994. (Inclusive of Voluntary Separation Plans) 1984-1994. (Inclusive of Voluntary Separation Plans) 1984-1994. (Inclusive of Voluntary Separation Plans) 1984-1994.Research and Planning Division, Ministry of Labour.

Location of Establishment Workers Severance Due ($ mn)

STATE SECTOR 11,201 605.9

PRIVATE SECTOR Receivership/Liquidation 5,292 68.9 Restructuring 1,242 28.0

TOTAL 17,735 702.9

separation plans) for the period 1984-1994.Job loss was almost doubled in the statesector as opposed to the private sector.

The situation for workers was furtheraggravated by measures such as the wagefreeze (1983), the removal of cost of livingallowance (COLA) (1987), a 10% cut inwages and salaries (1989), excessiveretrenchment with or without severance pay,lockouts and the replacement of collectiveagreements by individual contracts.

A study conducted by the University of theWest Indies (UWI) indicated that in 1991almost 25% of the population was livingbelow the poverty line. The figure for thoseliving in absolute poverty moved from 3.5%in 1981-82 to 15% by 1988. In 1993 a

World Bank Report on Poverty and IncomeDistribution in Latin America and theCaribbean estimated that the number ofpeople living below the poverty linequadrupled between 1980-1990. Thistranslated into 105,000 people living underUS $60 per month as compared to 27,000in 198012.

Hardships were compounded in the 1980sby such measures as currency devaluation13

and implementation of a 15% Value AddedTax (VAT). The IADB Working PaperReport (1993) on Social Policy reported thatin the decade of the 1980s real per capitaGNP decreased by 60%, governmentexpenditure declined by 25% andunemployment doubled.

12 Trinidad Guardian, 28th July 1993, p.1

13 The TT dollar was devalued (in relation to 1US dollar) from a rate of $2.40 in 1976 to $3.60 in 1985 to

$4.25 in 1988. In 1993, the dollar was floated, it stabilized at around $5.80 for a long time until the end of1996 when the dollar reached $6.19. The dollar now trades at around $6.30.

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2.2 Post-Structural Adjustment Period2.2 Post-Structural Adjustment Period2.2 Post-Structural Adjustment Period2.2 Post-Structural Adjustment Period2.2 Post-Structural Adjustment Period

A snapshot of the labour force in the early1990s, inclusive of the informal sectorlabour force, is presented in Table 3. Over75% of the workforce can still be found inthe formal sector, with 34.4% in the publicsector. The majority of informal sectorworkers are found in personal services,artisan and craft production and smallbusiness. Wages are the highest in the publicservice, 60% more than in the private sectorand as much as 150% more than in theinformal sector.

The salient characteristics of theunemployed is the prevalence of youth

TTTTTable 3: Characteristics of the Labour Fable 3: Characteristics of the Labour Fable 3: Characteristics of the Labour Fable 3: Characteristics of the Labour Fable 3: Characteristics of the Labour Forororororce (1992)ce (1992)ce (1992)ce (1992)ce (1992)

Characteristic All T&T Male Female Poor Non Poor

Labour Force Participation(%) 60.2 74.8 44.7 56.4 61.1

Employed:Formal Public sector 34.4 34.1 34.6 20.6 36.6Formal Private Sector 42.5 39.6 48.0 50.0 41.3Informal Sector 23.1 26.2 17.6 29.4 22.1

Unemployed (%) 20.8 19.0 23.4 36.0 17.1

Occupation:Professional/Sr.Manager 8.8 9.4 7.7 2.0 9.7Tech/Associate Professional 9.5 6.6 14.9 3.2 10.5Clerks/Service 25.4 19.5 49.1 19.2 26.4Agriculture 4.5 5.7 2.4 7.2 3.9Craft 15.9 21.5 5.4 21.7 14.8Elementary 35.9 40.0 28.2 46.6 34.7

Mean Wages: ($)Formal Private 1500 1600 1300 700 1560Formal Public 2300 2300 2300 1320 2360Informal 900 1000 700 520 1170

unemployment (42% of the unemployedare youths). On the question ofemployment, it must be borne in mind thatunemployment has traditionally been highin Trinidad and Tobago.

Figure 1 shows the unemployment trendsfor the period 1973-1997. Before the oilboom, unemployment was as high as15.4% (1973) and under 10% only duringthe early 1980s. As the employmenteffects of adjustment policies began totake hold within the labour market in thelate 1980s, the unemployment rate hit ahigh of over 22% in 1988-1989. Thisproblem of unemployment has remainedacute, notwithstanding economic growth,

Source: World Bank (1995) Report on Trinidad and Tobago, Poverty and Unemployment inan Oil-based Economy, p.16. This study used data from the 1992 Survey of Living Conditions(SLC) (N=4006 individuals).14 ILO Employment Promotion Report 199115 Annual Statistical Digests, various issues

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Unemployment Rate

0

5

10

15

20

25

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

Year

Une

mpl

oym

ent (

5)

Unemployment Rate

due to the traditional emphasis oninvestment in heavy industry and capital-intensive projects at the expense ofinvestment in rural and smaller scaleenterprises.14

Figure 1: Unemployment Rate 1973-1997 (Labour Force Reports, CSO)Figure 1: Unemployment Rate 1973-1997 (Labour Force Reports, CSO)Figure 1: Unemployment Rate 1973-1997 (Labour Force Reports, CSO)Figure 1: Unemployment Rate 1973-1997 (Labour Force Reports, CSO)Figure 1: Unemployment Rate 1973-1997 (Labour Force Reports, CSO).

TTTTTable 4: Participation Rates By Sex (%) 1984-96.able 4: Participation Rates By Sex (%) 1984-96.able 4: Participation Rates By Sex (%) 1984-96.able 4: Participation Rates By Sex (%) 1984-96.able 4: Participation Rates By Sex (%) 1984-96.

Years - 1984 1988 1993 1996Participation Rate 61.6 57.9 59.5 60.5 Male 83.0 77.1 75.5 74.2 Female 40.8 39.0 43.7 46.8

TTTTTable 5: Unemployment Rate by Sex (%) 1984-96.able 5: Unemployment Rate by Sex (%) 1984-96.able 5: Unemployment Rate by Sex (%) 1984-96.able 5: Unemployment Rate by Sex (%) 1984-96.able 5: Unemployment Rate by Sex (%) 1984-96.

Years - 1984 1988 1993 1996Unemployment Rate 13.4 22.0 19.8 16.2 Male 12.0 21.1 17.6 13.2 Female 16.2 23.7 23.4 21.0

Tables 4 and 5 show the participation ratesfor male and female in the labour market.Of significance is the increase in femalelabour force participation during the period1984-1996.

2.3 Changing Status of T2.3 Changing Status of T2.3 Changing Status of T2.3 Changing Status of T2.3 Changing Status of Trade Unionsrade Unionsrade Unionsrade Unionsrade UnionsThe trade unions were on the ascendancy

in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Over 100collective agreements were registeredannually. However, the economic policychanges and the impact of industrialrestructuring intrinsic to adjustment

programmes meant that there were closuresof businesses, retrenchment anddownsizing in the public and private sector.In the early 1990s, the number of collectiveagreements registered at the Industrial Courtoften number less than 100.15 By June 1988,there were 126 unions registered under the

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Trade Union Act (1950). Only 25 of thesewere actively involved in representingworkers by way of an enforceablecollective agreement and dispute processingmechanisms.16 As at December 1997, theMinistry of Labour listed the number of tradeunions at 104.17 Thirty unions/associationswere dissolved or cancelled between 1992-1997. It is also interesting to note the newunions/associations that were registering inthe period 1996-1997 - the Hospital TaxiDrivers’ Association, two Maxi-taxi Drivers’Associations and a School TransportAssociation (operators of private schoolbuses)18. Total trade union membership isdifficult to ascertain since the majority ofunion/associations on the Ministry’s list, donot submit membership figures.

Since Government’s statistics on tradeunion density are generally poor, themembership records of the major unionsmust be relied upon in order to get a feelfor the experience within the past twodecades. The National Trade Union Centre,established in 1991 (NATUC) reportedhaving 26 affiliates in 1992 and 27 by 1995.

In the latter year, the NATUC claimed torepresent 120,000 workers, which isapproximately 30% of those actuallyemployed (NATUC 1995).

In 1996 the country’s labour force wasregistered at 530,400, with 444,200employed.19 Table 6 shows the membershipfigures compiled for the period 1980-1998.If we take membership levels as a visibleindicator of a union’s state of health, thesituation is bleak. In the traditional unionizedsectors, such as the transport and extractiveindustries and the public service, membershiploss was dramatic.20 One can debate the causesof such a decline in membership, however thescope of this study does not permit anintensive analysis of the reasons for thedecline.21 Among the several explanations, thestructural shift hypothesis appears plausible.This asserts that membership decline is dueto changes in employment. 22 However, thisalone cannot explain the decline for severalreasons.

Appendix 2 shows that although there hasbeen a significant increase in the service

16 Ramsubeik 1990:99.17 Under the Ministry’s classification “trade unions” include white collar staff associations, employeeassociations, producers’ associations, retirees’ associations and new associations of so-called “informalsector” workers (vendors’ and maxi-taxi drivers’ associations).

18 Data from the Research and Planning Division, Ministry of Labour19

Labour Force Report 199620

This is a general phenomenon, the falling number of union jobs was also observed in Britain,where there is a corresponding growth in non-union jobs, see “In the 1990s, the Union no longer makesus strong”, The Times 13th September 1995, p.8. In OECD countries, the average union density droppedfrom 37% in 1975 to 28% in 1988 (World Labour Report, Vol. 5 ILO 1992, p.55). Between 1980-1990,density declined in Britain from 50.4% to 39.1%; in the United States density moved from a high of 35%in the 1950s to 17% in 1989 (Olney 1996:2).

21In the context of industrialized countries, several casual factors are advanced to explain union member-

ship decline. They include factors such as the business cycle,the socio-political environment, public policy,employer avoidance strategies, inadequate union membership drives (the secondary organizer effect) andpublic opinion and attitudes (Chaison and Rose 1991: 10-40).22Chaison and Rose 1991:13.

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Unions Worker Area Membership Membership Membership %Change1980 1993 1998 1980-98

Public civil servants 19,200 14,900 15,000 -21.9ServicesAssociation(PSA)

Transport bus company 5,500 3,000 1,300 -76.4and Industrial manufacturingWorkers’ Union operations(TIWU)

Oilfields oil, production 20,000 12,000 8,000 -60.0Workers’ and refining,Trade Union chemical(OWTU) industries,

manufacturing,agriculture

National Union public utilities 45,000 20,000 20,000 -55.5of Government employees,and Federated governmentWorkers daily paid(NUGFW) workers

Trinidad & primary and 7,000 8,800 8,000 +14.3 Tobago Unified secondary schoolTeachers’ teachersAssociation(TTUTA)

Communication airline 2,550 2,200 2,024 -20.6Workers’ employees,Union (CWU) airport workers

Bank and banks, finance, 1,000 3,000 3,100 +210General insurance andWorkers’ media employeesUnion (BGWU)

All Trinidad sugar, range of 18,000 10,000 8,000 -55.6Sugar and workers inGeneral Workers’ agriculture andTrade Union manufacturing(ATS/GWTU)

Steel Workers’ employees in 500 900 833 +66.7Union of the steelTrinidad & industryTobago(SWUTT)

Total 118,750 74,800 66,257 -44.2

Source: Data based on NATUC’s figures. Compiled by the Education Department, ATS/GWTU 1998.

TTTTTable 6 Membership Changable 6 Membership Changable 6 Membership Changable 6 Membership Changable 6 Membership Change for Major Te for Major Te for Major Te for Major Te for Major Trade Unions 1980-1998rade Unions 1980-1998rade Unions 1980-1998rade Unions 1980-1998rade Unions 1980-1998.

sector, employment in manufacturing hasnot declined significantly relative to thelabour force. It is also felt that with the“feminization”23 of the labour force, manyemployees are located in industries not proneto unionization. One should, however, becareful of such a conclusion since womenmay not be doing jobs previously dominatedby men, but increasing their presence injobs of the type traditionally dominated bywomen.

Appendix 2 shows that the presence of womenin the labour force increased markedly in thecommunity service industry. However, thiswas always an area with a heavy concentrationof women. When the increase in the labourforce is taken into account, there has beenlittle change in the pattern of the overallindustrial composition of employment. Tradeunion membership levels have not beenincreasing although unemployment has beenon the decline since 1989. The BGWU is theonly union which appears on a growth path.This union grew by 200%, organizing theexpanding finance industry workers24.

Table 6 presents a picture of the dramaticfall in membership of the major tradeunions. This is further evidenced from the

fact that the number of collectiveagreements registered at the Industrial Courtfell by 58.7% (from 600 in 1979-82 to 248by 1993-95). It is also felt that the image ofthe trade unions has taken a battering duringthe 1980s25. This has been accentuated byorganized business groups and a largely anti-trade union press. The new entrants to theworkforce in the 1980s and early 1990s aregenerally young, female, part-time and intraditionally non-union areas such as theservice sector. The union leaders believe thatmany new workers may not have aninclination to join a union. This may also bea result of the specific nature of theirsocialization at the home, workplace andwithin the wider society26.

While employment in the state and privatesectors declined in the past decade, theCentral Statistical Office (CSO) figuresindicate that for the period 1989-1996 thenumber of employers increased by 51.3 %and the number of workers definingthemselves as “own account workers”27

(OAW) increased by 21.5%28. It isconceivable that many retrenched,voluntarily retired and severed workersstarted their own micro and smallbusinesses in this period29.

23 Defined as (i) the increase in female participation relative to men: (ii) the substitution of men by women over

jobs traditionally done by men; (iii) the changing character of industrial work whereby jobs are decentralizedwith low pay and irregular with part time and temporary contracts (Chhachhi et al 1994:42).24 Unlike other unions the BGWU had adopted a policy of aggressively pursuing a membership drive. They thencommitted the financial and human resources specifically to organizing. Increasing union membership in theBanking, Insurance and Finance Sector has been a phenomenon observed in several European countries, seeSussex (1992:290).25

This was a position of all trade unionists interviewed. Generally the mainstream local media do not reportpositively on trade union actions and policies. This has led to numerous fights between trade unionists andthe press. For insights into the biases of and techniques used by the press to construct and disseminate imagesof trade unions see Puette “Through Jaundiced Eyes” (1992).26

This view was expressed by the General Secretary of the NATUC and unionists from several member unions.27

A person who operates his or her own economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade,and hires no employees (he/she may be assisted by unpaid workers).28 Labour Force Reports 1989, 1996, CSO, Port of Spain29 Between 1990-1995 the Small Business Development Company (SBDC) contributed to the establishment ofover 1,000 small businesses.

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3.1 Employment Relationships3.1 Employment Relationships3.1 Employment Relationships3.1 Employment Relationships3.1 Employment RelationshipsThe criteria defining an employmentrelationship are:

“that a person has entered into orworks under a contract with anemployer to do any skilled,unskilled, manual, technical,clerical or other work for hire orreward. The contract may beexpressed or implied, oral or inwriting, or partly oral and partlyin writing and it may be a contractof service or apprenticeship or acontract personally to do any workor labour”.

Those criteria are set out in the IndustrialRelations Act (IRA), Chap. 88:01 of the lawsof Trinidad and Tobago, section 2 (1). Theabove definition, according to the law, hasbeen addressed in trade disputes and resultantjudgements of the Industrial Court. Anexample is the case of the OilfieldsWorkers’ Trade Union and SchlumbergerTrinidad Inc. (1997) RSBD No. 4 of 1996.

Over the last decade the number andpercentage of salaried workers haveincreased on a whole, but not uniformlyacross sectors. There has been a decline inthe sugar cultivation and manufacturingsector, in forestry, hunting and fishing.However, there has been increases inpetroleum and gas, including production,refining and in the service contracting sub-sector; in mining and quarrying; electricity

Employment andEmployment andEmployment andEmployment andEmployment andNon-Employment RelationshipsNon-Employment RelationshipsNon-Employment RelationshipsNon-Employment RelationshipsNon-Employment Relationships

3

and water; construction; wholesale and retailtrades; restaurants and hotels; transport andstorage and communication; finance;insurance; real estate and business services;and in the community, social and personalservices.

Having defined a worker, an employer isdefined in the IRA 1972, Chap. 88:01 atsection 2(1) as follows:

“An employer is a person whoemploys a worker and includespersons acting jointly for thepurposes of collective bargaining;an association or organization ofemployers which is registered as atrade union and a person forwhose benefit work or duties areperformed by a worker under alabour contract”.

Protection for Salaried WorkersThe principal instruments which governwage employment are the IRA of 1972, theRetrenchment and Severance Benefit Act,1985 and the Maternity Protection Act1998. Salaried workers are well-protectedby law in terms of conditions ofemployment, health and safety, socialsecurity, freedom of association, collectivebargaining and arrangements for disputeresolution. However, one finds that inpractice such workers are inadequatelyprotected. This may be due to the trend ofdeclining collective representation, asshown earlier, excessive administrative and

13

14


bureaucratic obstacles within the disputeresolution machinery and the cost of justice(time, money and workplacerepercussions).

The most important “new forms of wageemployment” in the country are fixed-termcontracts of employment and so-called“independent contractor relationships” whichare really disguised employee relationships.At times, the so-called temporary relationshipis intended to be long-term and indefinite.

Determining a contract of serviceThere are certain presumptions that provideevidence of the existence of an employmentrelationship. A contract of service may beidentified if the following conditions arepresent:

In this context, it is essential that there mustbe a wage or other remuneration. Theemployee must be obliged to provide his ownwork and skill. Absolute freedom to do ajob either by one’s own hands or byanother’s is inconsistent with a contract of

service; the employee must perform theservice in accordance with the employer’sinstructions. Control by the employerincludes the power of deciding the task tobe done and the way in which it should bedone. All of these aspects of control mustbe considered in deciding whether the rightexists in a sufficient degree to make oneparty the employer and the other hisemployee. The right of control need not beunrestricted. In order to determine wherethe power of control resides, it is necessaryto look firstly at the expressed terms of thecontract. If the contract deals fully withthe matter, then there is no necessity to lookany further. If the contract does notexpressly provide which party shall havethe right of control, then the question mustbe answered in the ordinary way by anassessment of the relevant factualcircumstances.

In deciding whether a contract of serviceexists, the Industrial Court will look at therealities of the relationship and will not bebound by the label or description which theparties give to the arrangement. The Courtwill be entitled to look at all the surroundingfacts and come to its own conclusion on thefacts. These principles are based on Englishcommon law, which is applicable in Trinidadand Tobago.

There are, however, advantages anddisadvantages to the above method ofpresuming an employment relationship.Firstly, the Court is allowed to determine thereal substance of the arrangement for thepurpose of deciding whether or not the personemployed is entitled to certain protectionunder the law or is excluded under the law.The main disadvantage is mainly evidential,in that problems arise in obtaining the

1. The employee agrees that inconsideration of a wage or otherremuneration he will provide hisown work and skill in theperformance of some work for hisemployer.

2. The employee agrees, eitherexpressly or impliedly, that, in theperformance of the service, he willbe subject to the control of theemployer in a sufficient degree tomake the person for whom heworks the employer.

3. The other provisions of thecontract are consistent with itbeing a contract of service.

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requisite documentation for presentation tothe Court.

There are indicators (features of theemployment relationship) set out inlegislation and developed in jurisprudencewhich enable judges at the Industrial Courtto determine the existence of an employmentrelationship. Various criteria have been usedfor distinguishing a direct employmentrelationship from an independent contractorrelationship. This essentially meansdistinguishing between a contract of serviceand a contract for services. The principalindicia of a contract of service have alreadybeen dealt with above.

Contract of service vs. contractfor servicesThe following criteria have been used by theCourts to discover whether the contract is acontract of service or a contract for services,i.e. a non-employment relationship. It hasbeen stated that the difference between acontract of service and a contract for servicesresides, essentially, in the terms of theprincipal obligation agreed to be undertakenby the employee. In a contract of service, theprincipal obligation undertaken by theemployee is to provide himself to serve;whereas in a contract for services theprincipal obligation is not to provide himselfto serve the employer but to provide hisservices for the use of the employer.

The control test has been one of the oldestapplicable tests. The basis of the control testis that if the employer has the right to controlthe employee in the manner in which the workis to be done, the latter will be his employee.The right of control is still an important testbut other tests are used in addition to thecontrol test in deciding whether or not anindividual is an employee.

The organizational or integration test is alsoa useful test. Is the employee considered tobe part of the employer’s organization? Ifhe is, then he is an employee. There is alsothe economic reality test. Is the employeein business on his own account or is heengaged on the employer’s business?

The present view of the Court is that no testis conclusive on the matter and the Courtswill look at all the various elements of therelationship. The following are some of themore important elements to be considered:

Notwithstanding this expressed criteria fordetermining an employment relationship atthe Court, several employers persist inattempting to disguise such an employer-employee relationship. Naturally there is nohard (official) data available for disguised

1. The employer’s right of control.2. Whether the employee is an integral

part of the business.3. Who gets profits or bears the loss

of the risk involved in undertakingthe work?

4. Ownership of the instrumentalia andthe onus to provide them.

5. Who is entitled to the exclusiveservices of the employee?

6. Who is responsible for the paymentof wages, sickness pay and holidaypay?

7. Who has the right to dismiss orsuspend the employee?

8. Whether income tax (PAYE) andsocial security contributions arededucted from the individual’sremuneration.

9. The intention of the parties.10. The Court’s objective view of the

relationship, having regards to all ofthe relevant circumstances.

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employment relationships. However, judgesat the Court and trade unionists in the fieldbelieve that such disguised relationships areon the rise. Qualitative data does exist on theincreasing trend to use contract workers insuch sectors as construction and in privatesecurity.30 While Thomas looks at contractworkers across sectors, Moonilal deals withspecific industry data, which suggest thatdisguised employment relationships are onthe rise.

Independent contractor relationships and so-called managerial relationships are the tradearrangements most frequently used todisguise the employment relationship. Thecase cited earlier i.e. Oilfields Workers’Trade Union and Schlumberger TrinidadInc. (1997) RSBD No. 4 of 1996 deals witha dispute over termination payments whichwere denied on the grounds of the workerbeing a temporary employee.

In the event of a dispute, a worker must firstestablish the fact that he/she is a worker withinthe meaning of the relevant Act i.e. theIndustrial Relations Act, Retrenchment andSeverance Benefits Act and the MaternityProtection Act. Normally this is not aproblem where the worker belongs to arecognized bargaining unit and is representedby a majority recognized union. If he/she doesnot belong to a recognized bargaining unit,he/she may be represented by any trade unionof which he/she is a member in goodfinancial standing, and will be required toshow that. Usually the Court will have littleproblem in establishing whether or not abona fide employment relationship exists.In cases of doubt, the union’s records can

be examined. That apart, the Court can alsolook at the reality of the arrangements,specifically using the criteria as set outabove. The Court will examine them andlook at the reality of the arrangement inorder to decide what the true arrangementis and not necessarily be bound by whatthe parties or either of them allege thearrangement to be.

3.2 T3.2 T3.2 T3.2 T3.2 Triangular Employmentriangular Employmentriangular Employmentriangular Employmentriangular EmploymentRelationshipsRelationshipsRelationshipsRelationshipsRelationships

Triangular employment relationships haveexisted in Trinidad and Tobago for decades,particularly in the oil industry where servicecontractors and sub-contractors provide ahost of support services and goods to thatindustry. There are several types of triangularrelationships. Firstly, where one personprovides services or performs work foranother person using the former’s ownemployees and secondly where one personprovides to another person the services ofworkers only under a labour contract. Theprincipal types of triangular relationships arepart-time workers and temporary workerswho provide work through an intermediary,for submission to a principal employer.Triangular employment relationships are anintegral part of the wider feature of contractlabour.

Contract LabourThe term “contract labour” has nointernationally-accepted definition.Depending on the writer and country/regionsunder study, various terms are used to referto contract work and workers such as atypicalworkers, indirect workers, contingent

30 See Moonilal 1998, chapters 4,5,6 and Thomas 1998.

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workers, casual or temporary workers andnon-standard employment. Contracting andsub-contracting can also be used widely andinterchangeably. Therefore it may be morehelpful to discuss the concept rather than adefinition of contract labour. The ILO Report(1996 ) on Contract Labour31 suggests that:

the concept of contract work seemsmainly to relate to relationships(either direct relationshipsbetween worker and enterprise orindirect relationships involving anintermediary) in which (i) the formof the relationship between theuser enterprise and the workersconcerned is that of independenceand autonomy; (ii) the substanceof the relationship is neverthelessasymmetrical because of thedependency of the worker on theuser enterprise, resulting from theworker ’s organizational andtechnical subordination to the userenterprise. Thus the term contractlabour is most often used to referto situations in which thesubstance of the relationshipappears to be similar to anemployment relationship while theform is a commercial one, or atleast where there seems to be somecombination of employment andcommercial aspects to therelationship established.

This description of “contract labour” is usedfor a workable understanding of the term forthe purposes of this study.

Cordova32 identifies three broad types ofcontract employment:1. Self-employment: while this is not new,

it is no longer the exclusive purview ofskilled workers but can include unskilledmanual workers and those on the marginalsectors of society.

2. Atypical employment contracts: thosethat deviate from contracts of full-timewage employment by establishingtriangular employment relationships inwhich a worker establishes occupationalconnections with several employers.These would include employment withtemporary work agencies, sub-contractors, labour pooling, etc. A rangeof job practices can be found within thisformat such as part-time employment,short-time working, alternating work andrest (traditionally used in mining andextractive industries), fixed-termcontracts, trial employment-and-training-cum employment contract; in thismodel continuity in employment isdiscontinued.

3. Clandestine work: this is also a risingform of atypical work which can befurther sub-divided into undeclared labour(carried out beyond the reach of labour,fiscal and administrative law), family workand micro enterprises which operateoutside of industrial regulations.

Job contracting vs. labour onlycontractingAt industry, two categories of contractwork are discernible: job contracting andlabour only contracting. Both of these

31 ILO (1996) Contract Labour. Report VI (1) for International Labour Conference 85th Session

1997. Geneva: International Labour Office.

32 E. Cordova. 1986. “Full-time Wage Employment to Atypical Employment: A Major Shift in theEvolution of Labour Relations?”. International Labour Review, Vol. 125, No. 643-645

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categories may involve triangularrelationships. The former occurs when acontractor agrees with a user firm for thesupply of goods and services andundertakes to carry out this work at his ownrisk and with his own financial, material andhuman resources. The workers employedto provide the goods or services remainunder the control and supervision of thesecond firm (contractor), which is alsoresponsible for fulfilling the other obligationsof an employer. The user enterprise makespayments to the contractor on the basis ofthe work performed or services providedand not on the basis of the number ofpersons employed and hours of workprovided. Job contracting is a legitimatecommercial activity which is governed bythe principles of commercial contract law.33

Labour only contracting takes place wherethe exclusive or dominant objective of thecontractual relationship is the supply oflabour (rather than goods and services) by thecontractor to the user enterprise. For thispurpose the user enterprise may bring thecontract workers unto its premises to workalongside its regular workers or it may havethe work performed elsewhere. There aremany variants of this model but all arecharacterized by the absence of a formaldirect employment relationship between theuser enterprise and the workers concerned.Under this arrangement, the workers engagedare placed under the control and supervisionof the user enterprise while they are on theproperty of the user enterprise. Contractors

are paid by the user enterprise on the basis ofthe number of persons employed, not thefinished product expected. Wages arenormally negotiated and settled directlybetween the contractor and the workers. Thepower to hire and fire remains with thecontractor, although the final choice ofactually having a worker on the premises ofthe user enterprise rest with the latter.34 Insome cases, agreements between a contractorand the user enterprise are approved ornegotiated by the trade union.35

Contracting in /Contracting outWhile two main categories can behighlighted, in reality a variety of contractualarrangements embody a mixture of job andlabour contracting. Job contracting can befurther sub-divided into contracting in orcontracting out. These terms have differentmeanings - the former occurs when thecontractors undertake to work or provideservices on the premises of the userenterprise, while the latter occurs when thecontractor performs the job outside of thecompound of the user enterprise. These twoforms also determine where responsibilityfor labour relations belong, for example,contracting-in arrangements place issues ofcollective labour relations, health and safetyand conditions of work squarely in thehands of the user enterprise. Contractingout has implications for the job security ofregular employees, in particular if jobs aremoving out of the user enterprise oncontract and threatening the security ofregular employees.

33 ILO (1996) Contract Labour, Report VI (1) for International Labour Conference 85th Session

1997, p.7. Geneva: International Labour Office.34

ibid., pp.7-935 In several unionized firms the union and employer may have specific provisions in the collectiveagreement that set out the conditions within which contract labour can be sourced. For more detailon this, see Thomas 1998.

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Arrangements between a user enterprise anda contractor can embody a mixture of allforms of contract work. A contractor canprovide labour, jobs or both and undertakework within and outside the premises of theuser enterprise (contracting in and out). Thesepatterns of labour utilization can be triangularor bilateral, involving individual or grouparrangements, gangs and the self-employed.

There are no separate legal provisions outsideof the laws identified above which govern thistype of employment. Like in the case of full-salaried workers, the workers in triangularrelationships are adequately protected in law,but inadequately protected in practice.

3.3 Self-Employment (outside3.3 Self-Employment (outside3.3 Self-Employment (outside3.3 Self-Employment (outside3.3 Self-Employment (outsideeconomic or other dependency)economic or other dependency)economic or other dependency)economic or other dependency)economic or other dependency)

From the information obtained from CSOofficials, it is difficult to get an accuratestatistical account of trends of this type ofself-employment according to data from theCSO. Even data on the self-employed isdifficult to discern. The CSO data presentfigures for the category of “employer”, asdefined earlier, while there is a categorydefined as “own account workers” (OAWs),also defined earlier.

In the national statistics, an employer can alsobe self-employed, i.e. owning and managinghis/her own business and in so doing, hireworkers. However, someone who is self-employed i.e. running his/her own businessbut not hiring workers is clearly not anemployer but an OAW. In this way thecategory of employer does not give anaccurate picture of the self-employed, whomay fall within that category but are leftout because they hire workers. On the otherhand the OAW category is clearly the self-employed but maybe not all the self-

employed. Officials of the CSO support thisview.

Given the definition of an OAW, the CSOpersonnel agrees that one can use the figuresfor OAWs and cross-tabulate with figures foroccupational and industrial groups to get asomewhat workable insight into trends in thecategory of the self-employed. By observingthe self-employed – outside economic orother dependency, it is reasonable to assumethat the self-employed in the categories ofprofessional and technical workers would besubject to less dependency from those withinelementary occupations. For example, a citylawyer or medical doctor or consultant(hiring no staff) would be an OAW in theprofessional category, while an OAW in anelementary occupational group may includestreet and stall vendors, domestic helpers,watchers and helpers.

What do the figures show? Over the period1987-1997, OAWs in the elementary gradesincreased from 1,200 to 1,400. However, interms of the structure of the group, itremained on average 1-2% of the populationof elementary occupational workers. In theprofessional cadre, the movement was from2,500 OAWs in 1987 to 4,400 by 1997,clearly a significant increase. However, thismeant a movement from 5% to 6.5% in thepopulation of those professional workers.These are the workers who would be outsideof economic dependence. They are notdependent on a client or middleman formaterials to produce a product. It is worthrepeating that an employer may or may notbe self-employed, while the category ofOAWs includes more than the self-employed. However, these categories maysuggest wider labour market trends andpatterns in work organization and industrialrelations.

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While there is no particular definition of“self-employment”, as far as labour law isconcerned, there are several acceptedcategories or circumstances ofemployment, which are regarded as self-employment. Some of these circumstancesare where:

Except in the case of individuals acting asindependent contractors, specific criteria of

self-employment have not been specificallydefined anywhere and the categories of self-employment are not closed. The principalcriterion of self-employment is that the self-employed individual must provide the workor services himself and not through others.These criteria are not set out in any particulartext, body of laws or cases. However, as thecase arises, and the status of a worker isquestioned, oral evidence can be heard at theCourt to establish whether an aggrievedperson is a worker or self- employed.

Some of the main forms of self-employmentin Trinidad and Tobago are: motor vehicleoperators; food salespersons; gardeners;market vendors; newspaper carriers; those inprofessions such as medical doctors,consultants, lawyers, dentists; and others inthe private practice of their professions. Self-employed persons can be called entrepreneursand independent contractors in the locallabour market. The number of self-employedpersons is generally felt to be on the rise, butagain no hard data are available. However, thetrends in OAWs and individual entrepreneurssuggest that self-employment is on the rise. 36

The self-employed person has a duty tocomply with statutory regulations forpayment of income taxes, health surchargeand national insurance. In terms of rights, itis possible, in an appropriate case, for a self-employed person to be included in the lastsegment of the definition of “worker” insection 2 (1) of the IRA by claiming thathe/she is a person who works under “acontract personally to execute any work orlabour” for another person, but such a casehas never arisen. If he is so regarded bythe Industrial Court, then the Court may

1. An individual carries on a businessin which he himself is personallyinvolved as a worker, e.g. he operatesa shop or store selling articles orproducts to members of the publicgenerally or provides some requiredservice to members of the public e.g.travel agency service.

2. An individual personally provides aservice to other individuals orpersons and charges a fee for theservices rendered, e.g. a licensedelectrician or a skilled technician ora carpenter.

3. An individual who himself makesarticles or products at home e.g. hemakes hammocks, chairs, benches,food, etc. which he sells generally tothe public.

4. An individual who is an owner – driverof his own motor vehicle which heuses for the provision of services tomembers of the public, e.g. a taxioperator, a tour operator or a smallequipment operator.

5. An individual who is an independentcontractor and offers certainservices that he performs personallyto another person under anindependent-contractor relationship.

36 Moonilal 1998. Chapter 5.

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give him the required protection under theAct. If he is not so regarded, then he canonly look to be protected under the normallaw of contract. Unlike salaried workers andeven workers in triangular relationships,self-employed workers are unprotected inlaw and in practice on all scores. Whiledispute resolution mechanisms are availableat the Ministry of Labour, very few self-employed workers avail themselves of theseavenues which are deemed to be costly andtoo lengthy.

Self-employed workers are also free toorganize and associate. The fundamentalrights illustrated in Table 1, are provided toall self-employed workers. While employersbelong to employers’ associations, Chambersof Commerce and an Employers’Consultative Association, the self-employedcan and do form their own associations. InTrinidad, there are, among others,associations of vendors and taxi drivers.

3.4 Self-Employment in situations of3.4 Self-Employment in situations of3.4 Self-Employment in situations of3.4 Self-Employment in situations of3.4 Self-Employment in situations ofeconomic or other dependencyeconomic or other dependencyeconomic or other dependencyeconomic or other dependencyeconomic or other dependency

Although not watertight, one can locate thistype of worker within the national statistics.The self-employed in the “community, socialand personal services” (which include suchworkers in repair, laundry and domesticservices and personal household services)moved from 15,900 in 1987 to 21,700 by1997, an increase of 36%. When one looksat a gender breakdown, we find that in 1987there were 5,700 women in this industrialgroup. By 1997, this figure soared to 9,600,an increase of 40.1%.

In the group “wholesale, retail trade,restaurants and hotels” (which includeworkers at guest houses, hotels, restaurantsand drinking places), it was found that there

was an overall increase of 7% between1987-1997, among the self-employed.However, the figures for women increasedby 12%, almost double the overall increase.

It is felt that much more workers opted forself-employment in the last decade. In thissub-category of the self-employed ineconomic dependency can be found personswho are theoretically self-employed butdependent on one employer or client for theirsupply of either raw materials and market orcontracts to provide a service. The term“independent contractor” is often associatedwith this form of labour utilization. Thepeculiarities and problems associated withthe misuse of the designation of “independentcontractor” has been the subject of severalIndustrial Court judgements in Trinidad.

This also presents some labour and industrialrelations problems. Over the years,employers have used this situation to keepworkers on the payroll, yet claim that theworkers are self-employed, and so avoidcertain labour-related costs (benefits ofcollective agreements) and statutoryliabilities (severance payments). In turn, themajor issues have revolved around certainlegal issues pertaining to the legal definitionof a worker and the issues of a contract forservice as opposed to a contract of service.

The burning question has been: When is acontract worker recognized in law as aworker? In the Caribbean, legal definitionsof both employee and employer are basedon nineteenth-century British common lawi.e. the master and servant relationship andthe formulation of legal concepts arising outof that bond. This is wholly unrelated to

22


contemporary employment relationships inthe Caribbean and elsewhere. Indeed labourlaw has been slow to change in relation tothe changes in the composition of the labourmarket and the changing organization ofwork.

A form of legal flexibility is discernedwhereby firms are increasingly trying to gainlegal recognition for a work relationship inwhich the principal employer is devoid of allresponsibility as an employer and the workeris judged to be an independent contractor. Theworker in this case has few legal rights as anemployee and at the same time, has very littlerole as an employer since he neither sets therates of pay nor conditions of work and workprocess.

As the contract for service becomes more ofa norm than a contract of service, there aremany implications for labour relations and theworkers deemed self-employed orindependent contractors. The Industrial Courtis increasingly being called upon to determinethe employment status of a worker and his/her ensuing rights to employment andtermination benefits. Firms often attempt toprove that workers are independentcontractors or “entrepreneurs” acting outsideof the user firm. In Trinidad and Tobago’slabour law, a “worker” is defined under theIRA Section 2 (1), CH 88:01 as:

(a) any person who has entered into or worksunder a contract with an employer todo any skilled, unskilled, manual,technical, clerical or other work for hireor reward, whether the contract isexpressed or implied, oral or in writing,or partly oral and partly in writing, andwhether it is a contract of service orapprenticeship or a contract

personally to execute any work orlabour;

(b) any person who by any trade usage orcustom or as a result of any establishedpattern of employment or recruitment oflabour in any business or industry isusually employed or offers himself forand accepts employment accordingly; or

(c) any person who provides services orperforms duties for an employer undera labour only contract, within themeaning of subsection (4) (b); andincludes

(d) any such person who -(i) has been dismissed,

discharged, retrenched, refusedemployment, or not employed,whether or not in connectionwith, or in consequence of, adispute; or

(ii) whose dismissal, discharge,retrenchment or refusal ofemployment has led to adispute; or

(e) any such person who has ceased to workas a result of a lockout or of a strike,whether or not in contravention of Part 5.

While this definition is broad, it is alsoimportant to identify who is not a workerunder the Act. Subsection 3 states:

For the purposes of this Act, no person shallbe regarded as a worker, if he is -

(a) a public officer, as defined by section 3of the Constitution;

(b) a member of the Defence Force or anyancillary force or service thereof, or ofthe Police, Fire or Prison Service or ofthe Police Service of any Municipality,

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or a person who is employed as a ruralconstable or estate constable;

(c) a member of the Teaching Service asdefined in the Education Act, or isemployed in a Teaching capacity by auniversity or other institution of higherlearning;

(d) a member of the staff and an employeeof the Central Bank established underthe Central Bank Act;

(e) a person who, in the opinion of the Board(i) is responsible for the formulation ofpolicy in any undertaking or businessor the effective control of the whole orany department of any undertaking orbusiness; or(ii) has an effective voice in theformulation of policy in any undertakingor business;

(f) employed in any capacity of a domesticnature, including that of a chauffeur,gardener or handyman in or about aprivate dwelling house and paid by thehouseholder;

(g) an apprentice within the meaning of theIndustrial Training Act.

Subsection 4 also states that For thepurposes of this Act -4 (b) where a person engages the servicesof a worker for the purpose of providingthose services to another, then, such otherperson shall be deemed to be the employerof the worker under a labour only contract.

For the discussion on the status of a workerunder the law, one must also examine theRetrenchment and Severance Benefit Act

(RSBA) No. 32 of 1985. Section 3. 1 states:

This Act applies to persons falling withinthe definition of “workers” under theIndustrial Relations Act with theexception of -

(a) subject to paragraph (d),workers who have not had morethan one completed year ofservice;

(b) workers serving a known pre-determined probationary orqualifying period ofemployment;

(c) casual workers;

(d) seasonal workers, unless suchworkers are employed as partof the regular work force for atleast three consecutive seasonswith the same employer and forat least one hundred days eachseason;

(e) workers employed on aspecified fixed-term basis orworkers engaged to perform aspecific task over an estimatedperiod of time where theseconditions are made known tothe worker at the time of theengagement, and does notapply to independentcontractors.

Employers have therefore, five majorcategories within which they can manoeuvreand side-step the law. Not surprisingly, manycases going to the Industrial Court concerningcontract workers relate to whether they areworkers under the IRA (1972) and whetherthey qualify for severance payments underthe RSBA (1985). In an early case, prior tothe RSBA, No. 14 of 1970 C.A. Correia

24


(Trinidad) Limited and AmalgamatedWorkers Union (1972) the Court, indetermining whether an employmentrelationship existed, asked the fundamentalquestion; “Is the person who has engagedhimself to perform these services performingthem as a person in business on his ownaccount?” If the answer is “yes” then it isa contract for service. If not, then it is acontract of service.

In two cases, Retrenchment and SeveranceBenefits Division (RSBD) No. 15 of 1992Communications Workers’ Union andBesplate Trinidad Limited (1994) and No.47 of 1994 Contractors and GeneralWorkers’ Trade Union and Lake Asphaltof Trinidad and Tobago (1978) Limited(1995), the Court ruled that the workers inquestion operated as independentcontractors on a contract for services andas such were not entitled to severancebenefits. Subsection 3 (1) (e) above wastested in the case RSBD No. 67 of 1986Premchand Ramsankar and Endeco(Trinidad) Limited (1995) where the Courtordered the company to pay severance tothe worker since the company failed in 2years to “make known to the worker” orparticularize the terms and conditions of itsemployment offer to the worker.

In other Commonwealth jurisdictions whenthe Courts were asked to determine theemployment status of workers to adjudicateon severance payments, it appears that theydid not attach much significance to thenumber of hours worked by an employee.

The Courts were conscious ofcontemporary employment practiceswhereby employers are well disposed to hirepart-timers and casual labour. The morefrequent the re-engagement and the greaterits duration seem to be significant factorsin establishing an employment relationship.Two Canadian cases, Jaremko v A. E. LePage Real Estate Services Ltd (1987) andGoldberg et al v Western Approaches Ltd(1985)37 brought to the fore the question ofemployment status. These judgementssuggested that the Courts relied on suchfactors as subordination, the right tocommand, economic reality and socialpolicy as opposed to semantic tests to arriveat a decision. 38 The Courts were in theprocess accepting that newer forms ofwork organization, home working andflexible work practices were changing thetraditional nature of the employmentrelationship. Control could no longer be thesingle decisive test.

The above is meant to demonstrate that thecategory of self-employed can be the subjectof abuse, where employers designate workersas “independent contractors” and seek toavoid the responsibilities of an employer. Thecriteria defining “independent-dependent”employment can be summed up as “where aperson engages the services of a worker forthe purpose of providing those services toanother”. The criteria are set out in section 2(4) (b) of the Industrial Relations Act. Otherterms used in the local context are: contractworker, temporary worker, part-timeworker and casual worker. These workers

37 Both cases are quoted in Marcelle (1996). The full citations are: Jaremko v A.E. Le Page Real

Estate Services Ltd (1987) 17 C.C.E.L. 262 (Ont.H.C.J.); affd 69 O.R. (2d) 323 (CA); Goldberg et alv Western Approaches Ltd. (1985) 7 C.C.E.L. 127 (B.C.S.C.)38 Marcelle 1996: 19-22.

25


can be found mainly in constructionproviding a range of services in oilfieldengineering and general labour supply. Theyare usually recruited to supplement theregular workforce of the employer forwhom they service, perform specificservices or do special tasks which theemployer cannot do using his ownemployees. In several cases, the“independent contractors” do seasonalwork such as maintenance tasks duringperiods of shutdown. Therefore it is not inthe financial interest of the employer to keepa permanent staff for such seasonal work.At times the work or service needed maybe specialized and there may exist no in-house expertise in such areas (such assystems specialists, IT technicians, etc.).

These workers are generally regarded aspart of the self-employed category. Where“independent-dependent” workers form aseparate category, they differ from self -employed workers, in that their contract ofemployment is with one identifiableemployer who pays them but anotheremployer arranges their work andsupervises them. These workers do notform a separate and stable category withany juridical status or instruments governingtheir work, thus they are by and largeinadequately protected on all scores. 39

While actual figures are not available, it isthe view of leading industrial relationspractitioners that such categories of workersare on the rise.

39 That is, the six areas identified in the ILO’s outline - conditions of employment and remuneration,occupational safety and health, social security, freedom of association, collective bargaining and accessto justice.

4.1 The Case of T4.1 The Case of T4.1 The Case of T4.1 The Case of T4.1 The Case of Truck Drivruck Drivruck Drivruck Drivruck Driversersersersers

The number of truck drivers, like self-employed persons, is difficult to glean fromthe official statistics. As an occupation,truck drivers can be located in transport,service and sales. However, as an industrialgroup, they can be found in the workforcesacross all industries. One can report thatbased on the expansion in the constructionindustry and the mini-boom in that sector,recruitment of truck drivers has been onthe increase. Interview data obtained fromcontractors in the construction road repairand building sub-sector suggest that thedemand for truck drivers has increased overthe past 3-8 years. The physical sight ofinnumerable heavy equipment on thenation’s roads also suggests intuitively thattruck drivers are on the increase.

Increased demandThe demand for truck drivers, likeconstruction workers, is related to levelsof investment in capital works and socialinfrastructure. The levels of activity in thebuilding industry will also affect the demandfor truck drivers. Thus it is likely thatemployers will keep drivers on a temporarybasis. A lot of road works and residentialconstruction projects will also be done inthe dry season, thus demand is alsoseasonal. Construction companies usuallykeep a roster of drivers and simply call onthem as the demand increases.

The conditions of work and terms ofemployment of drivers would differ

immensely depending on whether thoseworkers are organized and protected or not.For example, drivers in the public service(for example, in the Ministry of Works)would be unionized and enjoy terms andconditions far superior than driversemployed by private contractors. There willalso be differentiation within the privatesector between workers in the employ of afirm that has a union and those where theunion is absent. Table 7 gives a list of thenon-wage benefits available to workersthrough a collective agreement in the servicecontracting sub-sector. This is based uponagreements in existence. These negotiatedconditions are available to truck drivers inthe employ of unionized firms.

Non-unionized settingsThe conditions for drivers in non-unionizedsettings however, can be bad to horrible.The employment relationship is tenuous.Drivers are recruited with verbal agreementswhich spell out their wage only, and noother conditions of employment. Thusemployers ask drivers to do any andeverything from washing the trucks todoing private chores for the employer.

Management is distinctly authoritarian andworkers are vulnerable. In some cases,certainly not all, employers will deductmonies for statutory payments of incometax, national insurance and health surcharge.However, the benefits outlined above areabsent in the main. Workers can be fired

4 Case StudiesCase StudiesCase StudiesCase StudiesCase Studies

26

1. Medical benefits

2. Saving plan

3. Paid sick leave and benefits

4. Benefits for surgical operation and leave

entitlement

5. Good health bonus for unused sick leave

6. Overtime pay, normally time and a half for

first 4 hours, two times for next 4 hours and

three times thereafter

7. Rest day pay

8. Call back pay

9. Frustrated work, guaranteed income if

company ceases work

10. Paid public holidays and rest days

11. Paid annual vacation leave, entitlement for

sickness leave when on annual leave

12. Annual wage increment

13. Annual bonus

14. Cost of living bonus

15. Fringe benefit bonus

16. Incentive allowance

TTTTTable 7: Non-wable 7: Non-wable 7: Non-wable 7: Non-wable 7: Non-wagagagagage benefits accruing to ore benefits accruing to ore benefits accruing to ore benefits accruing to ore benefits accruing to orggggganized wanized wanized wanized wanized workers,orkers,orkers,orkers,orkers,according to Collective Agreementsaccording to Collective Agreementsaccording to Collective Agreementsaccording to Collective Agreementsaccording to Collective Agreements

17. Productivity allowance

18. Disturbance allowance, if worker has to

move residence due to work

19. Subsistence allowance for travelling outside

of place of work

20. Shift bonus

21. Completion bonus, when a job is completed

before contracted date

22. Provision of all protective gear

23. Protective clothing

24. Meal allowance when working away from

firm

25. Acting allowances

26. Funeral leave

27. Leave for union business

28. Emergency business leave

29. Study leave

30. Jury leave

31. Special leave - for sportsmen, artists, special

reserve police, etc.

32. Severance service pay in event of

retrenchment

without just cause (unfair dismissal), andif retrenched, severance payments are notforthcoming.40

Truck drivers can operate as dependentworkers, within triangular relationships, asself-employed workers or as independent-dependent workers. Their employmentrelationship is secured if they are employedas workers within the meaning of the IRA1972. However, their employment status isuncertain if they work in any other categoryor situation. The principal instruments

governing their work would be theWorkmen’s Compensation Act and theirduties and responsibilities would be providedfor in the Motor Vehicles and RoadTransport Act.

Truck drivers are considered to be workersunder the law if they work under a contractof employment with an employer. There are,however, truck drivers who own their owntrucks and provide transport and haulageservices for other individuals or companies.The latter category of truck drivers is not

40During the fieldwork phase for this study, the author learnt of a case where a prominent contractor in

South Trinidad retrenched 14 truck drivers without paying severance payments. Those workers wereorganizing to take their grievance to the Ministry of Labour.

27


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considered as workers but rather as self–employed persons. If they are workers, theyare protected in the same way as otherworkers under the law. If they areindependent contractors, they are onlysubjected to the terms and conditions ofthe particular contract into which they haveentered and to the normal remedies forbreach of contract. They are, of course,required to conform with the general lawsof the country relating to the licensing andoperating of vehicles and the transportationof cargo.

If truck drivers are workers, they areadequately protected under the law. However,in practice, they may be inadequatelyprotected on all scores since many arewithout a bargaining agent or trade union.Unlike the situation in several othercountries, the majority of truck drivers arenot unionized in Trinidad and Tobago. Iftruck drivers belong to a recognizedbargaining unit, their terms and conditionsof employment will be contained in acollective agreement between the employerand the recognized majority union. Ifregistered at the Industrial Court, theagreement is binding in law and may beenforced by the Court. If they are not in arecognized bargaining unit, then the onlyrequirement is that they must be paid theminimum wage and other conditions ofemployment stipulated in the MinimumWage Order.

Conditions and ConcernsThere are several problems associated withtruck drivers. Many drivers are required todrive defective trucks and to work in unsafeenvironmental conditions which could bedetrimental to their health. Nevertheless,they sometimes prefer this state of affairs

rather than risk being unemployed. Ininterviews with drivers, one heard of storieswhereby employers do not issue any termsof employment or give precise jobdescriptions. In this scenario, the employercan demand that drivers do any andeverything. Drivers are often asked to takehome the trucks to wash and polish on theirown free time. Drivers also complainedabout doing tasks outside of driving suchas loading.

If drivers are workers under the IRA, theywill be subject to normal social securitylaws and will enjoy freedom of associationand the right to bargaining collectively.However, this is in theory. In practice,workers are actively dissuaded from joininga union and assembling for the purpose ofpursuing their interest. In the real world,most workers know that a trade union isconsidered a proscribed organization andan employer can find some means toretrench or dismiss an employee whoappears pro-trade union. While truckdrivers are in theory provided with the basicright to organize, in practice the fulfilmentof that right is hampered by a system thatallows for victimization and harassment.

Procedure for resolving disputesIf the truck drivers in question are workersunder the law, administrative and judicialmechanisms are in place to resolve disputes.In the event of a dispute arising in the caseof a person who is a worker, he is normallyfree to raise the grievance with hisemployer. If he is a member of a bargainingunit represented by a recognized majoritytrade union, there will usually be a formalgrievance procedure in a registeredcollective agreement between the employerand the recognized majority union. There

29


are normally three or four stages in such agrievance procedure, depending on theprovisions of the collective agreement.Union representation will also be allowed atthe various stages. The employer or hisassigned representative will listen to theworker’s complaint and may or may notresolve it.

If the worker’s complaint is not resolved,then the recognized majority union may reportthe matter as a trade dispute to the Ministerof Labour under the IRA. When the Ministerreceives the report he will attempt to resolvethe dispute by conciliation, provided that heis satisfied that the worker is a member ingood standing of the union which reportsthe dispute. For this purpose, the Ministerwill invite the employer or his representativeto attend a joint meeting with the workerand his union at which the matter of theworker’s complaint will be fully discussed.If the dispute is resolved at the Ministry,the parties will execute a Memorandum ofAgreement which is forwarded to theIndustrial Court established under the Act,for entry as an Order or Award of the Court.When so entered, the agreement becomeslegally binding on the parties.

If the dispute remains unresolved by theMinister, the Minister will issue anunresolved certificate in which he willcertify that the dispute reported by the unionon the worker’s behalf continues to beunresolved. Either party may, in the caseof an unresolved dispute, seek theintervention of the Industrial Court inresolving the dispute compulsorily. Uponreceipt of a request by either party, theIndustrial Court will then summon theparties before the Court, and after theobservance of preliminary procedures, the

Court will hear and determine the matterby making a Compulsory Order for thedetermination of the dispute.

Where the worker is not included in abargaining unit which is represented by amajority recognized union, there may be noformal grievance procedure which may befollowed but he can still raise his grievancewith his employer informally. In such a case,he will not normally be allowed to have aunion representative present at the hearingof his complaint. If the grievance is notresolved and he wishes it to be determinedby the Industrial Court, he may do sothrough any trade union of which he is amember in good standing. Such a union (aminority union) may report a trade disputeto the Minister under the Act. The sameprocedure as outlined above will then befollowed for the resolution of the disputeby conciliation, failing which the disputemay be forwarded to the Industrial Courtfor hearing and determination. There is aright of appeal on a point of law, only, fromdecisions of the Industrial Court to theCourt of Appeal, and, in certain casesthereafter, to the Judicial Committee of thePrivy Council.

4.2 The Case of Sales Persons in4.2 The Case of Sales Persons in4.2 The Case of Sales Persons in4.2 The Case of Sales Persons in4.2 The Case of Sales Persons inDepartment StoresDepartment StoresDepartment StoresDepartment StoresDepartment Stores

Such workers normally operate asdependent workers. Consequently, theirterms of employment are either fixed by anindividual contract of employment or by acollective agreement if the workers belongto a unionized bargaining unit. In either case,they are subjected to the economy-wideMinimum Wage Order. The principalinstruments governing their work arecollective agreements, individual agreements

30


and the Minimum Wage and OvertimeOrders. There exists no jurisprudence asguidelines governing their work. As a result,they remain inadequately protected in lawand in practice on all grounds. An actualcopy of an individual contract obtained froma store worker is attached (Appendix 3A).It is astonishing that while the duties of theworkers are clearly spelt out, there isabsolutely no reference to wages to be paidand provisions for overtime payment. Eventhe stipulation which involve “a lunch break”is in direct violation of recent minimumwage legislation which spells out thefollowing conditions concerning meal breakand lunch break:

“A Worker is entitled to a mealbreak of no less than three-quarters of an hour after no morethan four and a half consecutivehours calculated from thescheduled time of commencingduty and an additional rest breakof no less than a quarter of an hourafter a subsequent period of nomore than three hours”. Section 4(1), Minimum Wage Order 1999.

Clearly, the individual agreement does notrecognize the provisions established in lawthat protect workers. The agreement is alsosilent on payments for working overtimeand on Sundays and public holidays. Inpractice, workers are paid a “flat rate” forworking on any day and any time. Many ofthe workers are employed in small storeswhich are subjected only to the MinimumWage Order. Invariably, they are paid theminimum wage, and in some cases, lessthan the minimum wage. Such workers

generally work within safe environments,but in event of accidents, they are not awareof their rights. They should be covered bysocial security measures but their employersoften discourage them (since the employerpays the costs) from registering with thenational security authorities and so manyof them are denied the benefit of socialsecurity legislation.

In theory, these workers are free to associateand are protected in doing so by the law.However, in practice they are activelydiscouraged with the fear of victimizationand dismissals. They are therefore unwillingto join and participate in trade unionactivities. The majority of workers in thissector have no collective bargaining rightsbecause they are not unionized. Again theseworkers have the basic rights as describedin Table 1, however, in practice they cannotexercise those rights. Employers are alsoversed in adopting several union-avoidingand union-busting strategies which furtherfrustrate the efforts of low-waged workersto organize. 41

In terms of administrative arrangements fordispute resolution, they can avail themselvesof the same procedures that are available totruck drivers, as described above. In practice,the store workers will not take up a disputewith their employer, since more likely thannot, the employer will dismiss the worker,who will then be on the breadline for a longperiod without any source of income. Thegrievance handling machinery grinds on ata snail’s pace. As one worker said,“reporting a dispute to the Ministry ofLabour is as good as getting fired”.

41 See Moonilal 1994 for more union-busting techniques.

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Several store workers and officials of theunion that organizes this category ofworkers (the National Union of DomesticWorkers -NUDE) were interviewed. It wasamazing that the meetings with the NUDEwere held in a cloak of secrecy, almost likean underground meeting. The workers, themajority being women, meet clandestinelyat the office/home of the union’s leaders. Itwas revealed that the members would hidefrom employers and will not disclose thatthey are members of the NUDE, for fear ofvictimization. Not surprisingly, the unionhas a very high turnover. Many women areafraid to openly join the union or participatein union activities.

Conditions and ConcernsWorkers raised several complaints duringthe meetings:

1. There is a dependent-independentrelationship between the worker andher employer; she is dependent onhim for orders, in the case of theseamstresses in the group.

2. When the Minimum Wage wasintroduced, several employerssevered the relationship withworkers and then re-hired them asindependent contractors. Some evenpaid under the minimum wage.

3. Workers actually administratethemselves in that they do notreceive pay slips and any officialnotification of statutory deductions.The women must keep privaterecords of their hours and pay. In sodoing the women do not sign forreceiving monies. They are nevercertain that the employer makes thestatutory payments (as opposed todeductions) to the governmentauthorities.

4. Store workers often work excessivehours. When they work overtime onpublic holidays and Sundays, nopayments are made for such work.There is a case of one suchemployee who works Monday toThursday 8.00 am to 5.00 pm;Fridays 8.00 am to 6.30 pm andSaturdays 8.00 am to 2.30 pm. Ofcourse during any holiday period,such as Christmas, employees instores often have to work late intothe night, until 10.00 pm. Thewomen complain that they oftenwork extra time at the flat rate, yetif they are five minutes late, theemployer cuts their salaries.Incredibly, an employer pays a flatsalary to one worker of $56 per day,the minimum wage for 8 hours, yetthe worker in question works over10 hours per day. The employerdeemed this “showing commitmentto the business”.

5. One employer had a novel way ofoffering a reward for working onpublic holidays, something to theeffect of asking the worker to workon all but one of the nationalholidays. She was paid flat time forall the holidays worked and gainedthe one not worked as an off-daywith full/flat salary. This is anunlawful rostering for the purposeof denying workers their overtimeand premium rates for working onholidays and Sundays.

6. Workers often have to punch a timecard for every break. At one storethe employer was giving a twenty-minute lunch break; again this is inviolation of the Order, which dealswith conditions for lunch breaks.

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7. The women in stores often haveto wear uniforms to work, yet theyare not provided with suchuniforms. They must buy this outof their meagre salaries or if theemployer provides the uniforms, hededucts monies for this purpose.

8. As can be seen from the agreementattached, workers simply do nothave a job description. In such asituation, the employer can ask theworker to do any and everything.Women complain that employershire them to sell in the stores, yetthey often do cleaning of shelves,toilets and warehouses.

9. The women are also denied socialsecurity; there are no pension plans,medical coverage, sick leave orvacation leave.

10. The union also complains about thelabour inspectorate at the Ministryof Labour, as being ineffectual andcounter-productive. A case was toldof workers and activists whoactually got fired after the labourinspector visited their place ofwork.

11. The union’s leadership alsocomplained that even when anemployer is found guilty ofviolating a labour code, he is notpenalized as opposed to when theworker is found guilty of anoffence.

4.3 The Case of Construction Workers4.3 The Case of Construction Workers4.3 The Case of Construction Workers4.3 The Case of Construction Workers4.3 The Case of Construction Workers

Construction workers can operate in severalcategories such as dependent workers, in“triangular relationships”, as self-employed

workers and as independent-dependentworkers. It depends on the nature of theindividual arrangement into which they haveentered. Many such workers are party toindividual arrangements with their employersand very few construction companies havecollective agreements with a recognizedmajority trade union. Therefore, it is eitherthe individual contract of employment orthe collective agreement which will governtheir work. There are no jurisprudenceguides relating to construction work,consequently construction workers remainunprotected in law and in practice on allscores. Accordingly, except in those caseswhere there are collective agreements, therates of pay and other terms and conditionsof employment are determined solely bytheir employers.

Health and Safety ConditionsIt is in respect of health and safety whereconstruction workers face the harshest ofconditions. There is very little means ofensuring that the health and safety ofconstruction workers are protected on adaily basis. In many cases, they are notprovided with adequate safety gear. Thisissue of health and safety, as it relates toconstruction workers in the petroleumindustry, has occupied the attention of theILO since the early 1970s.42 They are, ofcourse, traditional problem areas but witha new and expanded scope. For example,health and safety associated with the useof information technology and state-of-theart machinery.

While the national statistics on industrialaccidents compiled by the Ministry ofLabour does not provide any disaggregation

42 See Social Problems of Contract, Sub Contract and Casual Labour in the Petroleum Industry. ReportII, International Labour Organization, Programme of Industrial Activities. 1972. Geneva: InternationalLabour Office.

33


by status of workers involved, the reportsfrom trade unions suggest that accidentsinvolving contract workers are alsoincreasing in relation to constructionemployees. Trade union officersinterviewed report that more and moreaccidents occur involving constructionworkers on contract. However, these oftengo unreported or unpublicized since nounion is present to “make a big deal out ofit”. They also testify that many contractorssimply do not put aside financial resourcesto ensure a safer workplace. They will makethe investment only if they are convincedthat a safer working environment will savemoney. The unionized companies takesafety seriously, since they pay for accidentleave, medical expenses and loss-timeinjury. Other companies also promote safetypolicies as part of ISO9002 criteria.

Many contract construction workers inTrinidad and Tobago are generally youngerand may lack the high degree of trainingand experience of standard employees.Some contractors do not appear to havethe incentive to train workers since theycomplain about the turnover rates amongtrained workers and secondly, very fewcontractors have the overall facility-specificknowledge required to provide training.

Within the firms contacted, several wouldjust require contract workers to have acertificate in their specific skill, a letter ofrecommendation testifying to experience,and such forms as a medical certificate. Ina few cases, workers would have to pass aphysical and take a drug test.

At the user enterprise, however, in additionto those tests, new workers usually workfor 3-6 months as an apprentice with senioremployees and do periodic examinations andrefresher courses to upgrade skills andknowledge in health and safety, humanresources, communications and evenhygienic standards.

It was found that health and safety wasmore of a concern for those contractingcompanies specializing in technical workthan for the general contractors. Stringentsafety policies and practices obtain in thespecialized companies; they often replicatethe safety programs of user firms.Consistency with ISO requirements alsodictate safety training initiatives.

The case of a steel companyThe case of a steel company is instructive inany discussion on health and safety at theworkplace. Data obtained by Moonilal 43 overa four-year period of field research canillustrate the problem.

Notwithstanding a massive investment insafety, the company was dogged by healthand safety issues, which naturally becamegrave industrial relations concerns. Thestatus of safety on the plant has been aperennial complaint of the union and a usefulwhipping horse in times of industrialtension. The year 1996 had been onedefined by much industrial upheavalsurrounding health and safety andenvironmental issues. Between December1995 to the end of January 1996 there wereno fewer than 3 serious cases of injury togroups of workers.

43 Moonilal 1998: 143-147

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Several accidents occurred in the shortperiod December 1995 to July 1996. Dueto their severity, further suspicion was castupon safety conditions at that company. A

TTTTTable 8: Company Safety Records 1989-1995 (frable 8: Company Safety Records 1989-1995 (frable 8: Company Safety Records 1989-1995 (frable 8: Company Safety Records 1989-1995 (frable 8: Company Safety Records 1989-1995 (from Annual Reports).om Annual Reports).om Annual Reports).om Annual Reports).om Annual Reports).

Year 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

No. of First Aid Cases 1285 1335 1359 1319 1015 1781 1371No. of Loss Time Injuries 181 151 141 110 86 106 109

Total 1466 1486 1500 1429 1101 1887 1480

catalogue of the accidents read as follows:

2nd December 1995 - three contractworkers are injured when a heat shield fallsfrom an overhead crane.

27th December 1995 - an explosion, twocontract workers burnt, no compensationforthcoming, one contract worker files acivil suit against the company claimingcompensation.

8th January 1996 - an explosion, two contractworkers incur burns.

8th May 1996 - an explosion, four workers(two contract workers) injured, the unionclaimed that seven workers were involvedbut only four were treated for injuries.

6th July 1996 - a welder is burnt whileworking on heating a gear for extraction inthe central services welding shop.

8th July 1996 - a contract worker’s fingeris severed when a barrel falls on his hand;he was trying to move the barrel manually.

9th July 1996 - a fatal accident kills onecontract worker.

The union claimed that workers, in a bid toearn the production incentives, were takingundue risk (using defective equipment,

following unsafe work practices, workingwithout proper safety gear) to meetdemanding production targets and earnextra income. Additionally, construction

workers on contract were exposed togreater risk since they were called in toperform jobs that regular workers shun dueto safety concerns. The contract workerswere coerced to undertake these jobs sincerefusal often meant dismissal.

Not surprisingly, many of the accidentsduring the year involved contract workers.Contract workers interviewed indicated thata practice existed whereby workers wouldwear safety boots and helmets to get onto theplant, (a requirement at the gate) then take itoff and pass it out through a hole in the fenceor via one worker going out for other contractworkers to get in. Therefore, at any one time,many contract workers were without safetyboots and helmets.

Even the safety figures are also a source ofdispute. The company can and does marshaldata (Table 8) to suggest that accidents (indifferent classifications) have been reducingover the years. Although the company’sinternational rating in terms of accidents inthe steel industry is above average, the unionclaims that they are using “statisticalconmanship”, since the company’s figuresdo not include accidents of construction

35


(contract) workers. The union adds thatloss time due to accidents is calculated ifthe injured worker takes accident leave. Inmany cases, workers are influenced to takesick leave to cover loss time due toaccidents. Furthermore, an accident onlyqualifies as loss time if the worker is homeon accident leave for three consecutivedays and over, but workers, the unioncontends, are forced out to work beforethe three days expire. What this means isthat the company’s safety data may besignificantly deflated.

Several employers of construction workersare also small scale or roving contractors whorecruit labourers and pay an agreed wage forthe day work or task work. The employerregards the worker as temporary and do notconform to social safety laws.

Organization of WorkIn terms of work organization forconstruction workers, outside of a bargainingunit, one can think of the following areas:1. The duration of the contract -

Employment relationships are neither ofa continuous nor unspecified duration.Instead, the relationship has a specifictermination date and/or the jobperformance is interrupted. The socialrelationship underlying the contractual tieis also time-specific.

2. The duration of work - The increasein part-time work, the hiring ofperipheral workers within the widerlabour market and its increasedpropensity within the contracting sectoris indicative of attempts to alter theemployment relationship. It may includea reduction in normal working hours(horizontal part-time), or by full-timework being done on alternate days

(vertical part- time) or job sharing andjob alternation in combination with anunemployed worker.

3. The place of work - Work is carriedout outside the central place ofproduction (i.e. the plant or firm). Dueto the nature of work and the technicalcapability of managers today, one cannotdepend on control (in terms of what,how and when work is performed) toindicate subordination but increasingly,subordination has to be measured interms of the link between work andorganization. Again, an abundance ofcase laws on contract disputes in theCaribbean and on both sides of theAtlantic seek to address thiscontemporary dilemma. Increasingly,the relationships became bilateralbetween the employer and the individualconcerned. In the case of triangularrelationships involving the worker, theuser enterprise and the contractor - theworker is usually legally bound to thelatter although socially and economicallydependent on the former.

4. The bilateral individualisticrelationship – Increasingly therelationship becomes bilateral andindividualized, as there is a movementaway from collective relations.

5. The availability to work - In the classicmodel of employment, subordinationconsist of being both materially andlegally available to work (a worker is stillbound on contract even though onholidays or ill). In the new model a pre-contractual situation arises whereby theworker promises to work (labour on call).There is no legal protection to suchworkers since such subordination is notjuridical but socio-economic.

The impact of these processes on labour

36


organizations and the terms and conditionsof workers is a significant development inlabour-management relations. The adoptionof any form of labour utilization dependsupon the production process (includingtechnological innovations) and the productand labour markets within the given industry.

Product MarketThe central characteristics of the productmarket for construction firms, which affectfreedom to organize, are:

1. Fierce competition among firms -This means that employers are prone tocost reduction strategies in an industrywhere firm size ranges frommultinational subsidiaries to self-employed contractors. Wheninterviewed, managers were quick topoint out that competition fromnewcomers in the industry led to agreater need to use labour only ondemand. They also bemoaned the factthat this affects training, sincecompanies are reluctant to invest heavilyin training when the beneficiaries wouldrapidly move on to competitor firmseither for better terms and conditionsor when another firm gets a bigger shareof the local contracts. In this scenario,workers must seek to upgrade theirskills outside of the firm via state andprivate training programmes since theemployer may not deliver much skilltransfer apart from narrow job -specifictraining.

2. Demand is highly volatile - The levelof foreign investment reflects the stateof the construction sector at any giventime. Investment levels have fluctuatedsharply over the last decade and so hasemployment levels in construction. The

large companies are insulated from thiseffect since they also operate within theregional market and are less affected byfluctuations in the local market. Thelarge firms can then encourage companyloyalty and offer good terms andconditions of work in line with tradeunion demands. Therefore it is thesmaller firms which have a disincentiveto maintain a stable, permanentworkforce. Generally, the constructionsector is highly localized and labourdemand depends upon government’sinvestment policies, conditions ofwelcome for foreign investors (price ofgas, preferential rates for infrastructuralrequirements) and the flow of contracts.

The volatility of demand is compoundedby weather dependence and seasonality,in that construction work escalatesduring the dry season. Even thenunexpected rainfall can hinder work.Additionally, many of the user enterprisestake advantage of long holidayweekends such as the annual Carnivalholidays in February or March and theEaster weekend to embark upon plannedshutdown and maintenance operations.Many contract workers are not entitledto overtime or premium or triple timerates for working on such holidays.

3. The ease of entry - The industry ischaracterized by ease of entry at thelower end resulting in a large number ofsmall firms. This leads to pricecompetition, pressure for cost reductionand an associated preference for usingcasual labour as opposed to permanentworkers. The volatility of labour demandmeans that contract labour is well-suitedfor this industry. Because of this easeof entry, new, inexperienced contractors

37


can quickly register a firm, outbidtraditional firms and make a quick profit.This condition encourages fly-by-nightoperators. These companies leavebehind unpaid wages and redundancyliabilities. They often change names,relocate and begin operations anew.

Indeed, the character of the product marketlends itself to the use of non-standardemployment. Furthermore, workorganization and work processes dictatethat contract workers in the constructionsector are by definition fluid and difficultto organize. The following characteristicsare noted:

1. The processes are highly sequential,differentiated and discrete, each requiringdistinct trade skills and tools. Beginningwith site preparation (excavation - demandfor backhoe operators, heavy equipmentdrivers, very few labourers), moving ontoconstruction (requiring builders,fabricators, masons, carpenters), then toelectrical and instrumentation specialistsall the way to mechanical and pipingworks. Even when the constructionphase is completed, many contractorsretain agreements to do “shut downs”44

and maintenance operations. Because ofthis production process each specialisttradesman is only employed and neededfor a relatively short period of time. Theythen make way for the next group oftradesmen for another specific role inthe production process. This can alsomean making way for an altogether newcontracting firm which specializes in thenext production process, for example,

from site preparation to plantconstruction. Hiring is therefore for alimited time. Workers may remainemployed by a firm only if morecontracts are forthcoming.

2. Production processes are mainly skill -intensive. The use of unskilled labourersis limited to particular aspects ofproduction such as dredging, loadingmaterials and watchman services.

Labour MarketFeatures within the labour market alsomilitate against organization.

1. During boom periods, the constructionindustry attracts a host of newcomerfirms each looking to make use of ties tothe large contractors or state enterprises.Employment is transitory. Workers movein and out of jobs as demand requires.These workers are therefore not prone toagitating for employment security,unionism or even industry safetystandards which core workers areconcerned with. Their main concernsare offers of work and quick pay bycash. The workers constitute an itinerantworkforce of contract workers. A highlabour turnover again does not lend itselfto stable and secure employment withany corresponding desire for workerorganizations. Interestingly, manyworkers have also given up on theprospect of getting stable, full-time jobswith all the benefits of unionism.Construction workers seem to feel thatsuch ambitions are unrealistic whenevery day they see union members beingretrenched and the large unionized firms

44 Referred to in the United States as “renovation and turnaround jobs.”

38


closing down or downsizing. Theyplace a high value on a series of short-term jobs.

2. Low job security and fluctuations inwages also characterize constructionwork.

3. Workers, by virtue of being transient,do not develop a collectiveconsciousness. Many workers are notonly uninterested in organization, buttheir individualistic nature also makesthem anti-union. In addition, workersare deployed at several locationssimultaneously; little contact is possibleeven among workers within a firm. Itwas revealed that at times, workers didnot know if co-workers are even in thecountry since they may be abroad onjob contracts. Historically, the rapidmobility and isolation of the workforcealso account for their propensity toremain non-unionized.45

With collective bargaining in the constructionindustry almost non-existent, workers mustavail themselves of the dispute resolutionmachinery described earlier, which isavailable to all workers.

4.4 The Case of the Private Security4.4 The Case of the Private Security4.4 The Case of the Private Security4.4 The Case of the Private Security4.4 The Case of the Private SecurityIndustry WorkersIndustry WorkersIndustry WorkersIndustry WorkersIndustry Workers46

The private security industry (PSI) workersare today a mainstream workforce in mostindustrial societies. This industry has

expanded rapidly in the developing Caribbeanstates. There are several reasons advancedfor the growth of the PSI. The industrycan be seen as a result of the global demandfor security commodities and services. Inthe late 1980s one witnessed the escalationin insecurity within Trinidad and Tobagoas tight budgetary conditions impacted uponthe effectiveness of the state protectiveagencies. Industrial restructuring at the levelof the enterprise also heralded in such anescalation in the use of private policing.Many firms, faced with the prospect ofcompetition and the need to enhanceefficiency and productivity levels within theorganization, were determined to cutemployment costs by resorting to thecasual/contract systems to provide ancillaryservices previously done in-house. In thisregard, such services as cleaning, mailrooms, and security were contracted out.Internal security departments were closeddown and security was either outsourcedfrom established private firms or by offeringindividual contracts to previously full-timestaff. Such security contracts are providedby an assortment of large and small firmscatering to different segments of the market.

A profile of one large firm will give anindication of the magnitude of the privatesecurity industry. Securicor is a joint venturebetween the largest conglomerate (Neal andMassy Holdings Limited), Securicor

45 Report II for Petroleum Committee Meeting ILO: 1972:32.46 For the following discussion on the case of the Private Security Industry (PSI) workers, fieldworkwhich was conducted by Moonilal in the period 1996-1998 in Trinidad was relied upon. Dataobtained was used for a chapter in a thesis “Changing Labour Relations and the Future of TradeUnions: A Case Study of Trinidad and Tobago”. PhD thesis, 1998, Institute of Social Studies, TheHague.47 Neal and Massy Holdings Limited is the largest private sector company in Trinidad and Tobago,ranked by number of employees (6,736). It has an asset base of US$82mn, 16 subsidiaries and 10associates (August 1992).

39


International of England and the RepublicBank of Trinidad and Tobago (the largestcommercial bank in Trinidad and Tobago).47

The second largest commercial bank, theRoyal Bank, also has its own securitycompany subsidiary. As of 1995, Securicorprovided guard service at 146 sitesthroughout Trinidad and Tobago. Thecompany monitors alarms at 746 premisesand provides patrol and/or response serviceto 702 properties. Its cash-in-transit servicehandles cash movements for several majorcommercial banks and collects cash fromover 435 customer sites each day. Thecompany employs 800 workers and has afleet of 70 vehicles.48 Sixty-five percent ofSecuricor’s workers are casual.

The exact number of firms operating in thePSI is unknown. An estimate based uponinformation from those interviewed suggeststhat there may be between 150-200 firms inexistence. The yellow pages of the Trinidad andTobago telephone directory lists over 200such firms. It is conceivable that there may beother firms in existence but not advertised.

On the supply side, the surplus of young,relatively unskilled (and without muchformal education) male labour lent itself tothe establishment of a cheap pool of recruitseager to earn small salaries. The guardingsector of the PSI is labour-intensive andoften provide a haven for young, untrained,early entrants to the labour market. The PSIemploys approximately 40,000 workers, a

significant 9% of the employed labour force.The workers are predominantly young menwithout much formal education.49 Womenare employed in fewer numbers for guarding,female searches and clerical functions. Thelarger companies have around 20% femaleemployees.

The Supplemental Police ActIn Trinidad and Tobago the majority of PSIworkers are unorganized. The SupplementalPolice Act (SPA) stipulates that onlyprecepted officers may join an Estate PoliceAssociation (EPA). The vast majority ofofficers in the sector are unprecepted. Thispiece of legislation also prohibits preceptedofficers from joining a trade union and placesissues of discipline, promotion or transfers(burning issues to guards) outside thepurview of the EPA.50 Security guards aregoverned by the SPA which does not defineguards as workers under the purview of theIRA (1972) and creates another conflict asto which Ministry has responsibility for theoperations of the industry.

Under the colonial system, the Minister ofHome Affairs assumed responsibility for thepolice. However, after Independence this Actwas not amended to clarify whether theMinistry of National Security or the Ministryof Labour would be responsible for theindustry. Whereas the Police ServiceCommission (PSC) is responsible forgrievance handling and promotions for thestate police, private security workers have

48 “Securicor Delivers Peace of Mind”, Sunday Express, 29th January, 1995, p.18.

49 This is an unofficial figure that has been used by the Ministry of National Security. It is difficult to gauge

precisely how many persons are employed in the PSI, since many are found in own account employmentand with small firms which are unregistered with the Ministry of National Security.50 Section 38:2 of the SPA (1906, 1950) states that, “No representations shall be made by the Estate PoliceAssociation in relation to any question of discipline, promotion or transfer affecting individuals”.

40


no such recourse to appeal, and unlessorganized, are outside of the jurisdiction ofthe Industrial Court.

The EPA represents a fraction of preceptedofficers mainly in the large parastatals.Organized workers, covered by the EPA,enjoy negotiated and respectable terms andconditions of work. These officers arethemselves employees of the securitydepartment of the corporations or parastatals.But this is changing. Many companies preferto contract out for security rather thanmaintain a security department. Unionizingsecurity workers on the whole is a difficultproposition. The obstacles are numerous.They include legislation, work organization,management’s overt hostility to labourorganizations and firm size. In the PSI, firmsize and their unregulated status make it evenmore difficult for unions to organize formembership.

It is not surprising that organized workersbenefit from higher wages, standard hours ofwork, overtime payments, public holidays,annual vacation leave, sick and casual leave,maternity leave, bereavement leave, time-offto attend EPA meetings, reimbursement forinjury and loss of property in the line of duty,and a host of allowances for subsistence,driving and call back.51 Accordingly,depending on the firm’s wage structure,compensation received by associationmembers is from 25% to 200% higher thanthat of unorganized officers.

The PSI employees can operate as dependentor independent-dependent workers. For themajority, their terms and conditions of work

are agreed by individual contracts. A typicalcontract is attached to this study. (SeeAppendix 3B). In many cases, workers arerecruited by verbal agreements which outlineonly their rate of pay and the extensive rulesand regulations governing their work. Theindividual contracts are bereft of all otherterms of employment. Such workers are alsoprotected against abuse by the MinimumWage Order 1999 and the provisions thereinregarding overtime payments and meal/lunchbreaks. Since the majority of such workersare unorganized, very few cases of tradedisputes have reached the Industrial Courtand thus little jurisprudential authorities haveevolved.

PSI workers, like other workers deemed low-waged workers, suffer many of thegrievances of truck drivers and storeattendants dealt with earlier. Their wages areat times under the minimum. The recentintroduction of a Minimum Wage Order hasattempted to curb the wage exploitationsuffered by the PSI employees. However,the EPA still maintains that while the law isin effect, employers continue to violate suchmeasures. The enforcement machinery ofthe Ministry of Labour appears weak andineffective.

Working ConditionsIn the PSI, low wage rates appear even moreabhorrent when one takes into account thelong hours of work imposed upon workers.Low wages and long hours are the twinevils of employment in the PSI. While it isunderstandable that security must, bydefinition, involve unsocial hours (like allessential services), the propensity of

51 For example, see “Memorandum of Collective Agreement between Securicor Trinidad Limited and theEstate Police Association” 1992-1994.

41


employers to exploit workers by paying lowwages and demanding excess hours withoutcommensurate compensation or even restperiods, parallel those conditions in theExport Processing Zones (EPZs). For manyPSI employees, a 12- hour shift per 24 hoursis the norm. However, many instances ofofficers working 12-18 hours per day for6-7 weeks occur. Working over 60 hoursper week is also common, as well asworking continuously for over two weekswithout rest. The hours of work can varyfrom 36 to 72 per week.

In many work situations, employees doaccept long and exhausting hours of work.However, when to these requirements areadded the unbearable state of working doubleshifts at 12 hours, the mentally drainingnature of security work, the emotional sideof risking limb and life at any moment, itmakes for high stress and a frustratingexistence compounded by low wages andunfair conditions of work. Very soon thiswork has an adverse effect upon the officer,his/her family and their quality of life. Apassionate plea was heard from a corporal atone security firm which read:

I myself have worked eighteen days

straight (in 12-hour shifts) to be

given one day off. I slept for the

entire day and had to go to work

the next day. If I didn’t go I would

be fired. Who should I turn to? I

am not lazy, I am willing to work

but I am being advantaged. Pay is

late in coming, family time nil and

I leave and return in the dark.

Married men have to leave their

wives and children at nights for

weeks at a time, thereby putting

them at risk. As I am finishing this

letter, I am hearing about a guard

who has been working 36 hours

straight and has just arrived to

work another 12 hours on the post.

Can this man truly guard anything?

Does he care about anything else

but rest and sleep? Complaining

about our situation could get us

fired or demoted. There is no one

to turn to. 52

A sergeant also complains about the longhours, as much as 20 hours per day, afterworking such hours for 6-7 days a week. Thesergeant asked, “What good is that man tohimself, his family or to anyone? This iscausing a breakdown in family life and thecommunity as a whole?” Similar storieswere heard from several officers of theabsentee father and fed-up wife andchildren. This has a long-term impact uponstability at the home and wider social ills. Achilling and well-articulated account fromthe wife of one security guard reads asfollows:

…as a wife of a security officer, who

by experience knows the pressures

of being underpaid, and the effects it

has had on me personally, physically,

emotionally, mentally and otherwise, to

the point of being deeply troubled

depressed and frustrated, the unbearable

agony of being exploited… There is no

form of recreation as a family due to my

husband’s lengthy working hours - 12

hours each day. As for me when my

husband has to work the a.m. shift, my

day starts at 4.00 a.m. and when he is

gone the kids need attention, plus my

household chores. In the evening I see to

their lessons etc. My husband returns

52 Moonilal 1998:227

42


home at 6.50 p.m. exhausted after leaving

home at 5.15 a.m., to cool off, bathe and

eat. By 9.30 p.m. I am out of order for

that is when my domestic programme is

completed. It is the same with the p.m.

shift. It’s not worth the sacrifice. I don’t

even know what it’s like to enjoy an

evening out as a form of relaxation with

my family, no form of recreation

whatever, not even the pleasure of a

movie with my husband much less the

luxury of an ice cream. Security officers

and their families only exist for the

purpose of keeping the managers of

security companies rich in abundance,

while many have been forced to submit

themselves to poverty which has been

ruling our homes causing domestic

conflicts that are destructive by nature,

resulting very often in shame and

embarrassment…

This succinct account also tells an importantstory of the domestic burden that befalls thefemale members of households when theirmale partners are in security work. Thewomen are called upon to father the childrenand attend to all household chores. But thisalso leads to the breakdown of family life.One security guard confessed that “as a resultof these disadvantages, we have a very poorfamily life and some of us have even lost ourspouse to this cause”.

In the field, stories were also heard aboutthe effects of long hours and double shiftson the health and safety of security guards(and by extension the safety of the public)as it relates to officers developing medicalproblems such as exhaustion, hypertension,having blackouts and temporary loss ofvision. One officer from a large firm (withover 400 employees) reveals that:

At (firm name mentioned) blackouts and

other overwork- related health problems

are very common but are rarely reported.

A few months ago I prevented one of my

co-workers’ Officer ***** from

obtaining serious injury when he was

falling face down after working more than

9 hours continuous shift at the *****

Shopping Plaza. Several officers were

not as fortunate as *** including *** and

**** who have received serious injuries

due to blackouts on the job, after working

abnormal hours…

Fining in the PSIThere is in the PSI a widespread practice offining i.e. deducting fines for alleged violationof company rules and policies. In effect,managers can haphazardly cut the pay packageof workers in the name of rules andregulations. Without any possibility of appeal,labour representation or for that matter anyelement of natural justice, the majority of PSIworkers must accept without objection thispractice whereby their already meagre salariesare unlawfully reduced. The fact that it isaccepted, demonstrates the apparentmalleability of security workers. The recurringirony of insecurity among security workers isagain evident.

A more chilling and intimate understandingof how this state of affairs affects the livesof real people and families is gleaned frominterviews with officers and their relatives.One officer in a large firm complains aboutwages and fines in the following manner:

I am employed with (firm name

mentioned) for the past three years as a

security officer, my wages are $3.75 per

hour. I work one hundred and twenty

eight hours a fortnight. The company has

absolutely no benefits at all, only fines.

You have to pay $300 for uniform, $100

43


for sleeping, $45 for not reporting to

work, $45 for not saluting the visiting

officer and many other fines.

The exploitation of such workers can leadmany to consider unlawful means to remedytheir plight, says one worker (a dog handler)who called himself a “vex and disgustedguard”:

I work from 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 a.m. every

night without any day off for $3.75 per

hour. My grievances are many, but I still

have to work to put food on the table for

my family. I have to work under

conditions like, no proper place to secure

oneself, have to pay for uniform, for

boots, no days off… and if I am found

with my eyes closed or even not alert,

the charge is $50 dollars. So imagine

working all nights from 5.00 p.m. to 7.00

am and being charged $50 dollars and you

are only working for $52.50 per night.

This only leaves someone with no other

choice but to commit an unlawful act to

put food on his table.

Work FacilitiesAdditionally, PSI employees complain aboutthe lack of proper facilities on the job, forexample when posted at a client’s compound.One female officer at the medical complexcomplains that “we have no tea break andour lunch time is 15 minutes to eat”. This isnot atypical for the PSI. Other types ofcomplaints were received such as the failureof companies to provide basic equipmentsuch as notebooks, pens, batons, a clock,etc. to officers working on industrial sites.In isolated job sites officers are preventedfrom having radios or tape recorders withwhich to alleviate the boredom and monotonyof such work.

In some cases, officers are exposed to theelements when working outdoors. There isno proper shelter, neither are raincoats orboots provided. At some postings, officersremain with no drinking water and toiletfacilities. Officers in a mall complained thatthey were in the embarrassing position of“begging” a mall tenant to use his washroomfacilities on a daily basis. In many cases,workers complain that employers do notprovide dependable transport to and fromthe work site.

Security guards can be critically injuredduring robberies, hijacks, civil unrest,industrial protest, etc. Minor injuries are alsoroutinely incurred such as dog bites,vehicular accidents and injuries sustainedduring training. Guards are often without anyinsurance and get no compensation to coverensuing medical bills.

One disgusted worker complained that at hisfirm the workers are not covered for injuriesand medical treatment while the managerrecently took out insurance policies for thedogs. Of course risk and security go together,however many PSI workers appear to sufferfrom a double blow of incurring injuries andhaving little or no compensation. If employersdo pay the state’s national insurancecompensation and health surcharge, theWorkmen’s Compensation Act allows for aminimal compensation to injured workers orto the family of a worker who dies on thejob.

Another area of contention revolves aroundthe rights of PSI employees to what mightbe considered as normal vacation and sickleave. Without any form of labour protection,many security workers can find themselvesdevoid of leave entitlements.

44


Worker organization in the PSI is at its lowestin both large and small firms, regrettably, inan industry where collective action is mostneeded. The EPA represents approximately5% of all private security workers. It meansthat the provisions in labour law and theprotection of the Industrial Court are absentfor the vast majority of the workforce. Sofor all the high sounding affirmations of theCourt, workers to whom such protection isneeded are outside of the corridors of justice.If they do report a grievance to the Ministryof Labour, they do so at the risk ofvictimization.

This industry is characterized by low levelsof worker interaction on and off the job. Thevery rigorous shift system with long hoursof work by atomized groups of workers onisolated job sites impedes worker interactionon the job. Many workers only see each othervery briefly at the start of a shift when theyassemble at the company’s headquartersawaiting orders and transport.

There are also occupational features ofsecurity work which militate against solidarity.If a guard must always be suspicious ofeveryone to be alert to offenders, then he/she also becomes suspicious of fellowworkers as well. The very nature of securitywork does not lend itself to conversationbetween officers who are often scared ofexchanging views for fear that the listenerwill “carry news” to the management. Aguard declared, “some employers want youto become news carriers or Nazi’s to fellowworkers which is very prevalent”. On the jobthey are not expected to converse with aclient’s staff since this may breed familiarityand undermine their role as a watchman overthese workers. In fact, one managerexplained that as soon as a security guard

becomes too close to his staff he will requesta transfer for the guard, as in the case of aguard who was beseeched to play a cricketmatch with his client’s company workers.This was not in the best interest of security.Off the job, workers seldom meet on socialoccasions and prefer to spend those fewprecious moments with their families. Thismakes collective action and building workersolidarity all the more difficult.

Women in the PSISeveral complaints from female officers wereaired during the interview sessions. It mustfirst be noted that both male and femaleemployees of the PSI suffer side by side asregards wages and general conditions ofemployment described above. However,female employees are subjected to particularhardships such as sexual harassment andassault and discriminatory treatment inassigning tasks which impede promotionalopportunities.

Female employees often complain of beingharassed by managers making unwelcomesexual advances. One respondent told of acertain manager who had repeatedlyattempted to rape female officers. He furtherterrorized them by withholding their paypackages if they did not comply with hisrequests for sexual favours. It is understoodthat this manager was excessively abusivewhen rejected. The women can be the victimsof bosses or co-workers, this being a male-dominated industry. Women report thatharassment can take the form of unwelcomepestering, touching, comments andsuggestive jokes and offensive remarks madeabout their appearances. Other frequentcomplaints of female security personnelinclude inhibited access to the few benefitsgiven to male workers (overtime and training)and differential deployment (relegated to

45


office duties) due to the perception of havingphysical limitations.

When women are given outside postings,they often have to work at locations withinaccessible transportation to and from theirhomes. This situation is made even morealarming when we recall that security firmsare negligent in providing transport forworkers to and from isolated job sites. Abold headline in a weekly newspaper turnedthis scare into reality. It read: “FemaleSecurity Guard Raped”, and reported that“A female security officer returning homefrom work was savagely raped by anunknown assailant”.53

Pregnancy can also mean dismissal. Securitycompanies are known to discourage womenfrom having children by a policy of laying-off officers when they are pregnant orstipulating a time frame within which nomaternity leave will be granted.54 One femaleofficer pleaded as follows:

Presently I am pregnant, fortunately Iam working but any day I could be sent

53 The Bomb, 26th April 1996, p.32. In the same newspaper report, another employee related a story of a

fellow officer who was raped while waiting in the night for transport from a secluded job site.

54 One prominent firm only granted maternity leave to married women who worked two consecutive

years before pregnancy.

55 The maximum benefits paid by the National Insurance Board (NIB) can vary from $24 to $138 perweek depending on the earning class of the worker; they are substantially lower than averageweekly earnings.

56 Letter to the Minister of Labour from the Minimum Wages Board on Recommendations and

Proposed Order on Minimum Wages and Other Terms and Conditions of Service for SecurityIndustry Employees, 27th October, 1992.

home because the minute your uniformcannot fit, I am not allowed to wear any

maternity clothing to work in. I will be

sent home without salary or without

maternity benefits. NIS will pay for 3

months maternity leave at half my

monthly salary. Most of us women

officers are single parents, (with) no extra

means of income, telephone bill, light bill,

water rate, food prices, we are barely

making it…55

This complaint is apparently so prevalent inthe PSI that the Minimum Wages Board,under the Ministry of Labour, was forced torecommend specifically that “in order toensure that female security officers areequitably treated, provision must be madefor appropriate uniforms for pregnantofficers”.56 Although a Maternity ProtectionAct has been introduced, the EPA stillcomplains that in practice the femaleworkers are inadequately protected since theMinistry of Labour seems unable to monitoremployers effectively.

This study was meant to give an accountof the status of worker protection inTrinidad and Tobago and to identify anddescribe the main situations in whichworkers lack sufficient protection and toidentify the problems caused by a lack orinsufficient degree of worker protection.

Returning to Table 1, the matrix toconceptualize worker protection, one canconclude that in Trinidad and Tobago thereexists a measure of labour market wideprotection in terms of fundamental or basicrights which protect workers. Unlikesituations in several developing countries inAfrica, Asia and Latin America, workers inthe local market are protected by the nationalconstitution in so far as the right to assemblyand freedom to associate are concerned.These rights are unchallengeable injurisprudence and usually a law can onlyoverride this constitutional provision if it hasthe support of two-thirds of the fullcomplement of lawmakers in the Parliament.Within all the cases surveyed, those workersstill have the fundamental rights as enshrined in the constitution.

At the secondary level, the number ofworkers enjoying protection guaranteed bycollective agreements and the existing labourlaws is on the decline. Therefore the massof workers is devoid of the protectionafforded by the IRA 1972 and the IndustrialCourt. The organized workers in the formalsector (approximately 20%) remain fullyprotected and in an advantageous position.

However, problems abound for thoseworkers who are unprotected andunorganized. In all the categories (cases)selected, the majority of workers thereinare in many cases unaware of their rights,and in some cases outside of the scope ofprotective administrative arrangements anddevoid of protection in law. At the tertiarylevel, as a rule, low-waged workers are alsowithout private insurance and depend onminimal assistance from the state’s socialsecurity system.

It is the considered opinion of severalindustrial and labour relations practitionersinterviewed that the solution lies not withdrafting more laws, legislation, or creatingnew standards for the workplace. On thecontrary, what is required is greaterinstitutional capacity-building to monitor theimplementation of laws and administrativeOrders. The state also needs to exhibitgreater political will in addressing issues ofimplementation. It seemed to many thatemployers can get away with avoiding theirobligations to workers. Indeed policing theexisting laws is a serious national problemon the whole, not only at the workplace.Until and unless the will and capacityrequired are brought to the fore, passinglaws, ratifying conventions and observingstandards will mean little for the workingmen and women of Trinidad and Tobago.

Notwithstanding the above, certain realitiesin the labour market stand out. Protectivestandards at the secondary and tertiary

5 ConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusion

46

levels are weak and narrow in scope andcatch. It is also clear that the policy ofpursuing collective relations in labourmanagement relations cannot respond torecent trends in work organization andlabour utilization. Collectivization was adeliberate policy enshrined in the post-independence labour legislation whichrecognized trade unions and sought toprotect unions and increase their strengthand propensity to attract members. Forexample, recognizing only trade unions (andnot individual workers) before the IndustrialCourt was a means to increase collectiverelations within the labour market. In thecurrent scenario, the emphasis is onindividual relationships. This hasimplications for labour organizations.

Equally important is the realities facing low-waged workers, many of whom are foundin the amorphous informal sector. What isrequired is more economy-wide and labourmarket-wide standards which guaranteebasic protection to all. Like the MinimumWage Orders and Maternity Protection Act,the state, with the technical assistance of

the ILO, must introduce more safety andprotective measures which target the low-waged workers. In this context, theMinistry of Labour has taken initiatives tointroduce blanket labour legislation thatseeks to cover all workers. For example,the Occupational Safety and Health Bill, nowbefore the country’s Parliament is a case inpoint. The Basic Floor of Rights Bill (orLabour Code) that seeks to provide for basicconditions to prevail at all workplaces isanother attempt to grant protection to allparticipants in the labour market and notonly to the organized sector.

Another critical question is obeying thecodes. How will countries introduce andimplement protective measures? In thisregard, Ministries of Labour must beendowed with the technical, human andfinancial means to design moderninstitutions and structures for enforcinglabour market policy. Without suchstrengthened capacity, even when theprotective measures become law, there isno guarantee that the workers will benefitfrom such protection.

47


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Moonilal, R. 1994. “Structural Adjustment, Union Busting and The Future of Trade Unions”.In J.G. LaGuerre (ed.) Structural Adjustment, Public Policy and Administration in theCaribbean, 130-155. St. Augustine (Trinidad): School of Continuing Studies (UWI).

Moonilal, R. 1998. Changing Labour Relations and the Future of Trade Unions: A CaseStudy of Trinidad and Tobago. Ph.D. Dissertation, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague.

Olney, S.L. 1996. Unions in a Changing World: Problems and Prospects in SelectedIndustrialized Countries. Geneva: International Labour Office.

48

Bibliography and ReferencesBibliography and ReferencesBibliography and ReferencesBibliography and ReferencesBibliography and References

Pantin, D. 1989. Into The Valley of Debt: An Alternative Road to the IMF/World BankPath. Trinidad: G.V. Ferguson.

Puette, W.J. 1992. Through Jaundiced Eyes, How the Media View Organized Labor. Ithaca:Industrial and Labor Relations Press (Cornell University).

Ramsubeik, G. 1990. “Labour Relations in Trinidad and Tobago”, in W. Blenk (ed.) LabourRelations in the Caribbean Countries. ILO Labour-Management Relations Series No. 75,pp.99-106. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Strauss, G. and K. Whitfield. 1998. “Research Methods in Industrial Relations”, in theirResearching the World of Work: Strategies and Methods in Studying Industrial Relations,pp. 5-29. Ithaca: Industrial and Labor Relations Press (Cornell University).

Sussex, E. 1992. “The Impact of Structural Change on Trade Unions”, in G. Van Liemt (ed.)Industry on the Move: Causes and Consequences of International Relocation in theManufacturing Industry, pp. 281-308. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Thomas, R.D. 1972. The Adjustment of Displaced Workers in a Labour-Surplus Economy: ACase Study of Trinidad and Tobago. Kingston: Institute of Social and Economic Research (UWI).

Thomas, R.D. 1998. “Survey of Contract Labour in Trinidad and Tobago”. Paper presentedto “National Tripartite Symposium on Contract Labour”, Ministry of Labour and Co-operatives,25 March 1998, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Official Publications and Reports (Local and International)

Central Statistical Office, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Labour Force Reports, variousissues 1984…1996. Port of Spain: CSO.

Central Statistical Office, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Annual Statistical Digest (variousyears).

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. Annual Economic Surveys(Review of the Economy), 1992. Port of Spain: Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.

Building National Consensus on Social Policy: Trinidad and Tobago. Volume I - An Overviewand Action Plan. Final Report Prepared for the IADB, August 1993.

Building National Consensus on Social Policy: Trinidad and Tobago. Volume II - WorkingPapers, Notes and Reviews on the Social Sectors; Selected Statistics. Report Prepared forthe IADB, October 1993.

National Report for The World Summit For Social Development, Republic of Trinidad andTobago, Working Draft, 3rd February 1995.

49

NATUC (1992) Report on Activities of General Council to the First Biennial Convention ofDelegates. Port of Spain.

NATUC (1995) Report on Activities of General Council to the Second Biennial Convention ofDelegates. Port of Spain.

World Bank (1995) Report on Trinidad and Tobago, Poverty and Unemployment in an OilBased Economy. Report No. 14382-TR, 27 October 1995. Washington DC: The WorldBank.

International Labour Organization Sources

International Labour Organization (1972) Social Problems of Contract, Sub-contract andCausal Labour in the Petroleum Industry. Report II Prepared for the Eighth Session of thePetroleum Committee, 1973. Geneva: International Labour Office.

International Labour Organization (1991) The Challenge of Employment Promotion: Trinidadand Tobago in the 1990’s. Port of Spain: International Labour Organization.

International Labour Organization (1992) International Labour Conference, Provisional Record,79th Session, Geneva, 10/1. Geneva: International Labour Office.

International Labour Organization (1992) International Labour Conference, Record ofProceedings, 79th Session, Geneva, 1992. Geneva: International Labour Office.

International Labour Organization (1992) World Labour Report, Human Rights at Work,Employment, Labour Relations, Social Protection and Working Conditions, Volume 5.Geneva: International Labour Office.

International Labour Organization (1996) Report VI (1&2) on “Contract Labour” for theInternational Labour Conference 85th Session 1997. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Press (Clippings from the following newspapers were used. For the full captions, pleaserefer to the footnotes in the text).

Daily ExpressSunday ExpressNewsdayTrinidad GuardianSunday GuardianTNT MirrorSunday MirrorThe BombThe Times (UK)

Carispat News -several editions, monthly newsletter of the CIL

50

Legislation and Administrative Orders

The Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and TobagoThe Trade Union Act (1950), formerly the Trade Union Ordinance (1932)The Supplemental Police Act, Chapter 15:02 of The Laws of Trinidad and Tobago (11 of1906, as amended 15 of 1950)Industrial Stabilisation Act (No. 8 of 1965)Industrial Relations Act (No. 23 of 1972)The Minimum Wages Order, 1999The Maternity Protection Act, 1998The Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act, 1985

51

AppendicesAppendicesAppendicesAppendicesAppendices

Appendix 1Appendix 1Appendix 1Appendix 1Appendix 1GDP Composition - 1997 and 1998

54

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

GDP - 1997 Sectoral Contribution

Gov.14%

Pet.23%

Dis.13%

Tra.12%

Con.10%

Fin.10%

M an.8%

Oth.7%

Agr.3%

��Gov.��

�� Pet.��

Dis.�� Tra.

Con.�� Fin.�� M an.��

Oth.�� Agr.

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

GDP - 1998 Sectoral Contribution

Gov.14%

Pet.22%

Dis.13%

Tra.12%

Con.11%

Fin.9%

Man.9%

Oth.7%

Agr.3%

�� Gov.��

Pet.�� Dis.�� Tra.

Con.�� Fin.��

Man.�� Oth.��

Agr.

Source - Ministry of Finance, Review of the Economy 1998, CSO, Port of Spain.

Gov. - GovernmentPet. - PetroleumDis. - DistributionTra. - TransportCon. - ConstructionFin. - FinanceMan. - ManufacturingOth. - OtherAgr. - Agriculture

Appendix 2Appendix 2Appendix 2Appendix 2Appendix 2Distribution of Persons with Jobs by Industry Group and Sex, 1987-1996

55

Industrial Group Both Sexes% Male % Female %87 89 93 96 87 89 93 96 87 89 93 96

Sugar 1 2.6 3.5 3.0 2.5 3.4 4.8 4.2 3.6 1.0 0.8 0.9 0.7Other Agriculture 2 9.0 10.3 8.3 7.1 10.3 12.0 10.2 8.9 6.3 6.8 4.5 3.8Petroleum and Gas 3 4.1 4.6 3.6 3.7 5.6 6.3 4.9 5.1 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.3Other Manufacturing 4 9.5 9.9 10.0 10.1 10.6 10.7 10.7 11.3 7.1 8.4 8.5 7.9Electricity and Water 2.3 1.9 1.8 1.7 3.1 2.7 2.4 2.1 0.5 0.5 0.6 1.1Construction 12.9 10.4 10.4 10.0 17.4 14.1 15.2 14.2 3.4 2.7 3.2 2.4Wholesale and Retail Trade, Hotels, 15.9 16.8 17.6 18.4 11.3 12.8 13.6 13.8 25.5 25.0 25.0 26.3RestaurantsTransport, Storage and Communication 7.7 7.4 7.4 7.0 9.6 9.2 9.6 8.8 3.7 3.8 3.4 3.5Financing, Insurance, Real Estate and 6.2 6.3 6.9 8.2 4.7 4.9 5.9 6.8 9.3 9.3 8.8 10.6Business ServicesCommunity, social and personal services 29.3 28.6 30.4 31.4 23.3 22.4 23.1 25.2 41.6 41.4 43.6 42.2

Source: CSO Labour Force Reports (various years)

1987 1996 % ChangeLabour Force - 478,700 530,400 10.8% growthPersons with jobs - 372,200 444,200 19.3% growthMale Labour Force - 316,700 325,700 2.8% growth th jobsMales with jobs 251,000 282,500 12.5% growthFemale Labour Force - 162,000 204,700 26.4% growthFemales with jobs - 121,100 161,700 33.5% growth

1 Cultivation and Manufacture2 Forestry, hunting and fishing3 Including production, refining and service contractors4 Excluding sugar and oil

Appendix 3AAppendix 3AAppendix 3AAppendix 3AAppendix 3ASample Employment Contract for a Store Attendant

REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

AN AGREEMENT made this ------ day of -------------- in the year of Our Lord One thousand Nine hundred

and Ninety-------- between ----------------- a company with limited liability having its registered office

at --------------, in the ward of -----------------------in the island of Trinidad, hereinafter called “the Company”

of the One Part and -------------------------------------------------- hereinafter called: “the Contractor” of the

Other Part.

WHEREBY IT IS AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

The Company hereby engages the Contractor and the Contractor agrees to adhere to the Terms and

Conditions of this contract as hereinafter detailed with effect from the -------- day of ----------- to -----------

day of ----------------.

JOB TITLE: STORE ATTENDANT / CONTRACTOR

MAIN DUTIES: 1. To attend to and assist customers from the point of

entry to completion of the sale, providing proper information

on which customers are interested, recommending alternative

purchases and assisting them to try on garments and

footwear as necessary or appropriate.

2. To familiarize yourself with all aspects and

features of the apparel and items offered for sale

such as brand names, range, sizes, colours, designs,

availability, prices, care and quality features.

3. To familiarize yourself with and advise customers

(as appropriate) on the policies of the store,

payment, credit facilities, exchanges, etc.

4. To familiarize yourself with available stocks. To

assist in the preparation of customers’ invoices.

5. To provide information to management on stock

movement levels, customer enquiries, complaints,

or on any pertinent aspect of sales, customer

behaviour and product movement.

6. To ensure that items are properly arranged and

displayed, and displays are neat and tidy at all

times.

56

NORMAL WORK

PERIODS: Mondays to Saturdays -

From time to time you may be required to work in

accordance with any special sales promotional

activities arranged by the company including Sundays.

LUNCH BREAK: One half of an hour to be taken as scheduled by

management.

OVERTIME: You may be required to work overtime from time to

time, upon reasonable notice.

TIME CARDS: Time cards must be punched personally by you.Punching of time cards by other contractors on yourbehalf is strictly prohibited and can result in yourdismissal.

REMUNERATION A fortnightly remuneration less all National Insurance,Health Surcharge and Income Tax Deductions.

CLOTHING &APPEARANCE You are required to maintain a clean, tidy and neat

appearance at all times and to wear clothes which aresuitable for the workplace.

GENERALBEHAVIOUR You are required to show interest in the job, always

willing to assist management and other members ofstaff when necessary. You should be alert, observant andattentive.

STORAGE All personal items must be secured in the storage areasallocated to you. Contractors are required to properlysecure their personal belongings.

SECURITY: Contractors’ bags may be checked from time to time.

PILFERAGE: Unauthorized removal of company property and/or theaiding or abetting of such unauthorized removal willresult in your dismissal.

TERMINATIONOF CONTRACT: This contract can be terminated by either party giving

one day’s notice in writing.

I certify that I have read and understood the main terms and conditions associated with this offer ofemployment and I agree to be bound by them and accept the job.

Signed on behalf of Signed by the Contractor

_____________________ _______________________

Dated this --------------------------- day of --------------------------.

Appendix 3A (Cont’d)Appendix 3A (Cont’d)Appendix 3A (Cont’d)Appendix 3A (Cont’d)Appendix 3A (Cont’d)Sample Employment Contract for a Store Attendant

57

Appendix 3BAppendix 3BAppendix 3BAppendix 3BAppendix 3BSample Individual Employment Contract for PSI Employees

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

AN AGREEMENT made between ------------------------------------------------ (hereafter called “the

Employer”) and --------------------------------------(hereafter called “the

Employee”).

I expressly agree to the Wage and Conditions as laid down by the Company for the period

------------------------------- 1992 to -----------------------------------1995.

By virtue of this Agreement and during the continuance of my employment with the Employer, I

expressly agree that I will not pursue through any avenue whatsoever, further wage increases for the

period under reference.

Finally, I agree that I will continue to work under all other current existing terms and conditions as they

apply to me during the said period.

THIS AGREEMENT has been executed this ------------------------------ in the year of our Lord, One

thousand Nine hundred and Ninety Two.

FOR THE EMPLOYER FOR THE EMPLOYEE

58

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