The contracts of more than 1,000 ten-on, ten-off workers employed by the Tobago House of Assembly’s (THA) Division of Infrastructure have been terminated.
Chief Secretary Farley Augustine confirmed the development during a media conference at the Hochoy Charles Administrative Complex in Calder Hall yesterday.
Augustine first announced his intention to discontinue the programme during a plenary sitting in June. At the time, he said the THA had extended the programme until August to minimise disruption for workers, as they prepared their children for the new school term. He also suggested that some employees could transition into permanent positions, noting that several vacancies within the Division of Public Infrastructure needed to be filled.
However, Augustine yesterday expressed frustration that the division had yet to provide an updated list of vacancies. He contrasted this with the Division of Community Development and Social Protection, which had completed the process more than a month ago, resulting in over 158 daily-rated workers being made permanent.
Augustine said his goal is to have all positions within the infrastructure division filled before the end of the fiscal year. He said the last assessment identified nearly 700 vacancies within the division.
“I am disappointed the Division of Public Infrastructure is not near where I expected them to be in terms of completing their vacancy list and obtaining sign-off from the union,” he said.
Citing the slow pace of administrative processes within the THA, Augustine said he had established a seven-member committee to take charge of compiling the vacancy list.
Asked how much money the THA would save by ending the programme, Augustine said he did not view the move as a cost-saving measure.
“I don’t know if I want to look at it as saving money because this programme resulted in direct spending in the Tobago economy. I wouldn’t at all say that by not having the programme we are saving. By not having the programme, there is less liquidity in the local Tobago space,” he said.
He also addressed how the vacancies would be filled, saying workers already within the establishment would get first preference.
“Throughout the THA, we have varying categories of workers. Those who are on the establishment, meaning our unionised workers who are part of a set organisational structure established either by Cabinet and/or the THA, will from time to time encounter vacancies within that structure.
“The first step is always to promote those already within the establishment to higher positions, and then fill the vacancies at the bottom. Those 700 vacancies would most definitely be at the bottom of the establishment rather than at the top,” he said.
Augustine also said workers transitioning from development programmes and the Unemployment Relief Programme into the establishment would not carry over their service. He also said there would be no difference in remuneration for workers in the establishment and those outside of it.
“We can’t have a situation where someone who is now being onboarded is able to jump ahead of someone who has already worked in the establishment for a period of time,” he said.
