Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PORTOFSPAIN1082
2007-10-29 18:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Port Of Spain
Cable title:
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' SICK-OUT AFFECTING INTERNATIONAL
how-toVZCZCXRO2285 PP RUEHGR DE RUEHSP #1082 3021844 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 291844Z OCT 07 FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8757 INFO RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC RUEANHA/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHDC RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3715
UNCLAS PORT OF SPAIN 001082
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CAR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ELAB OTRA TD
SUBJECT: AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' SICK-OUT AFFECTING INTERNATIONAL
FLIGHTS
UNCLAS PORT OF SPAIN 001082
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CAR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ELAB OTRA TD
SUBJECT: AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' SICK-OUT AFFECTING INTERNATIONAL
FLIGHTS
1. Flights in and out of Trinidad and Tobago were disrupted between
Thursday October 25 and Sunday October 28 when air traffic
controllers called in sick to protest a lack of progress in wage
negotiations for the 2004-2007 contract period. The controllers
came back on the job at 11 p.m. Sunday night, one day after the
Ministry of Labor filed an injunction to force them back to work,
and CAA Director General Ramesh Lutchmedial told ECON Chief that as
of Monday carriers were resuming normal operations.
2. The sickout affected both Piarco Airport (POS) in Trinidad and
Crowne Pointe Airport (TAB) in Tobago. However there were no
reports of an effect on overflights in the large swath of Atlantic
airspace that is controlled out of Trinidad's Piarco Airport.
3. Lutchmedial told reporters on Sunday that CAA workers deserve a
raise and that CAA managers have not taken an increase since 2001,
pending resolution of negotiations on staff wages among CAA staff,
CAA management, and the GOTT's Public Services Negotiating
Committee. The package currently on offer would amount to an
average increase of 35%, according to Lutchmedial.
4. The controllers' sick-out comes in the wake of similar action in
early October by bus drivers at the Public Transport Service
Commission as well as recent protests by employees of the T&T
Electricity Commission (T&TEC),Telecommunications Service of T&T
(TSTT),and fire and prison officers, all complaining of
negotiations that in some cases have dragged close to the end of the
intended wage contract period, against the backdrop of annual food
price inflation of 20% or more since 2005.
5. COMMENT: Public sector workers and labor unions are seeking to
capitalize on increased leverage in the run-up to parliamentary
elections on November 5. The T&T Unified Teachers Association and a
number of other public sector unions have translated their leverage
into substantial wage increases in recent weeks.
6. COMMENT CONTINUED: Absent a resolution to CAA wage negotiations,
travelers visiting or transiting Trinidad and Tobago should be
prepared for more flight delays and cancellations between now and
November 5, and perhaps beyond. END COMMENT.
KUSNITZ
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CAR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ELAB OTRA TD
SUBJECT: AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' SICK-OUT AFFECTING INTERNATIONAL
FLIGHTS
1. Flights in and out of Trinidad and Tobago were disrupted between
Thursday October 25 and Sunday October 28 when air traffic
controllers called in sick to protest a lack of progress in wage
negotiations for the 2004-2007 contract period. The controllers
came back on the job at 11 p.m. Sunday night, one day after the
Ministry of Labor filed an injunction to force them back to work,
and CAA Director General Ramesh Lutchmedial told ECON Chief that as
of Monday carriers were resuming normal operations.
2. The sickout affected both Piarco Airport (POS) in Trinidad and
Crowne Pointe Airport (TAB) in Tobago. However there were no
reports of an effect on overflights in the large swath of Atlantic
airspace that is controlled out of Trinidad's Piarco Airport.
3. Lutchmedial told reporters on Sunday that CAA workers deserve a
raise and that CAA managers have not taken an increase since 2001,
pending resolution of negotiations on staff wages among CAA staff,
CAA management, and the GOTT's Public Services Negotiating
Committee. The package currently on offer would amount to an
average increase of 35%, according to Lutchmedial.
4. The controllers' sick-out comes in the wake of similar action in
early October by bus drivers at the Public Transport Service
Commission as well as recent protests by employees of the T&T
Electricity Commission (T&TEC),Telecommunications Service of T&T
(TSTT),and fire and prison officers, all complaining of
negotiations that in some cases have dragged close to the end of the
intended wage contract period, against the backdrop of annual food
price inflation of 20% or more since 2005.
5. COMMENT: Public sector workers and labor unions are seeking to
capitalize on increased leverage in the run-up to parliamentary
elections on November 5. The T&T Unified Teachers Association and a
number of other public sector unions have translated their leverage
into substantial wage increases in recent weeks.
6. COMMENT CONTINUED: Absent a resolution to CAA wage negotiations,
travelers visiting or transiting Trinidad and Tobago should be
prepared for more flight delays and cancellations between now and
November 5, and perhaps beyond. END COMMENT.
KUSNITZ