"Why are we begging like dogs for scraps?"
Historian and senior lecturer at UWI Dr Jerome Teelucksingh posed the question at the Adrian "Cola" Rienzi Memorial Forum on June 13.
Teelucksingh, who is also a Newsday columnist, said modern-day working conditions paralleled those Rienzi fought against during TT’s precolonial era.
Rienzi (born Krishna Deonarine) was a trade unionist and lawyer who advocated for workers' rights, Indo-Trinidadian rights, public servants, cremation rights, Hindu/Muslim marriage recognition and non-Christian schools.
“Unemployment, low wages, poor housing, unsafe working conditions and neglect by the colonial government: these were the conditions of the working class of 1920 and 1930s. They endured exploitation and racism.
“In 2024, many of our citizens still live in these horrible conditions.”
He said many regularly face additional burdens such as flooding.
Teelucksingh, referring to the deaths of four of five divers in 2022, when they were sucked into a 36-inch Paria pipeline, and the death of Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) employee Kern Etienne, who was buried alive under a mound of dirt, said Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OSHA) breaches can no longer be tolerated.
He urged trade union leaders to unite, set aside ethnic divisions, and uphold the militant spirit of past leaders like Rienzi and Butler.
Labour leader Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler led the 1930s movement to improve conditions of the working class.
"Labour has allowed race or ethnicity to split the movement. We see it all the time for voting, and we will see it again in 2025.
"It's a fact that governments no longer respect the labour movement. Governments in the Caribbean and Latin America do not respect the working class."
He said he was pleased to see Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh and the Public Service Authority (PSA) calling for the immediate firing of WASA's board.
Teelucksingh criticised the silence of trade unions during scandals such as the death of
seven neonates in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Port of Spain General Hospital in April.
“Where were the voices of labour?” he asked. “Those were working-class mothers who could not afford expensive private care to ensure their babies had a chance of survival.”
He questioned the optimistic reports by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the strength of TT’s economy.
“Don’t let them fool ya, or even try to school ya!” he warned, quoting Bob Marley.
Teelucksingh’s warning follows the June 5 IMF country report which said TT is recovering economically for the first time in a decade.
The report praised the government's fiscal policies in the non-energy sector, effective debt management, diversification efforts, tax regime strengthening, and a climate and green energy agenda.
Citing the National Investment Fund Holding’s $2 billion loss in 2023 and the recent Auditor General's report on the 2023 public accounts, Teelucksingh said the CSO and IMF reports are not
