“MTS officials refuse to talk with us, so this is the step we are taking this morning,” stated Rolland Sutherland, president of the Transport Industrial Workers Union (TIWU), who was protesting outside of Whitehall, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

Sutherland explained: “The employees who are protesting are a cross-section of National Maintenance Training Security Company Limited employees ranging from janitorial, custodians and maintenance.”

He added: “The executive board at MTS failed to have negotiations with the union.”

Sutherland told TnT Mirror: “the government is a majority shareholder in the company and they also are apart in the restructuring of MTS.”

He added: “the government wants to turn MTS into one of their ‘pet projects’ where everybody would be employed under SWMCOL/CEPEP agreement.”

“This will certainly give the workers no job security, no decent wages, no proper terms and conditions and no involvement by any Trade union”, Sutherland stated.

He explained: “The Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL)\Community-based Environmental Protection Enhancement Programme agreement which hires contractors who can treat the employees in any manner which they like and deprive them of the proper benefits in which they should receive.”

While being interviewed, Sutherland was sent a message from the Prime Minister stating that when he gets time from his Cabinet meeting he would speak to him on the current issues.

Sutherland said: “I wish that this matter could be rectified as soon as possible and the MTS executive could have a meeting with the union on the employees benefits.”