2019 Budget, Petrotrin and the Ghost of BWIA

2019 Budget, Petrotrin and the Ghost of BWIA
In the leadup to the 2019 Budget presentation great anticipation was generated about the Finance Minister providing answers on the Petrotrin closure issue.
The Budget speech and pronouncements by the Energy and Finance Ministers since have answered several questions.
A Q&A on Petrotrin
 Q – Is the plan is to privatise the refinery?
A - Madam Speaker, the refining assets will now be put in a separate company and we would entertain any viable offer from any investor who might wish to utilize the assets. P.26 Budget Speech.
Q – Is Petrotrin going to be completely closed?
A - The terminated permanent, temporary and casual employees of PETROTRIN will be provided with attractive termination packages. Early estimates put this termination payment at approximately $2.6 billion, consisting of $1.8 billion for all employees under the separation packages in nine (9) collective agreements….. P 28 ibid.
In several post-Budget fora the Energy Minister made it clear. A new company will be created with 3 subsidiaries – one in E&P, one in Terminaling and one in which the assets of the Refinery will be placed for private bid.
Previously, Chairman Espinet emphasised “all, all, all” the workers will be terminated.
He also let the cat out of the bag when he told an AmCham forum that they want the union collective agreements out of the way.
The Real Picture
So, here is the nana (the meat) of the matter:

• Petrotrin, the company, is being folded up
• a NEW company with 3 subsidiaries is coming
• the Refinery subsidiary will be Privatised
• ALL the workers are being terminated
• 1000 workers will be hired on individual contracts by the NEW companies, and
• ALL collective agreements will be gone.

And, what no Minister, Chairman or Consultant will say on the day the New Company and its 3 Subsidiaries open for business, they will have workers with NO collective agreement and THERE WILL BE NO UNIONS in any of the 3 or 4 companies.
This is exactly the same outcome as the BWIA-CAL ‘seamless’ transition of December 31 2006 – January 1 2007.
The PNM is pursuing its Modus Operandi (its preferred strategy) for the so-called transformation of  state enterprises. This is an MO, developed and perfected in the TDA-IDC > TIDCO, CARONI > Nothing, BWIA > CAL episodes.
This “seamless transition” strategy including the removal of sections of the Civil Service to ‘enterprise’ status -PUC>RIC, Health Service > RHAs, Post Office > TT Post, Air Traffic Control > TTCAA is fully ingrained in the PNM’s DNA.
A part of this MO is the elimination of Unions and Collective Agreements with the objective of limiting wages, salaries and employment benefits to degrade labour costs.
The Ghost of BWIA
The ghost of BWIA-CAL is stalking the corridors of Petrotrin. This ‘seamless transformation’ is almost a carbon copy. Even the Consultant/Architect of the ‘seamless transition’ is the same person from BWIA-CAL.
The outcome of the of that “seamless transition”:

• New Company
• Debt transferred to Taxpayers
• Bombardier gained lucrative aircraft supply contracts
• New workforce
• 4 Unions cut to only 1 (pilots)
• No Collective Agreements for most workers
• Profitability still to be realised.

At Petrotrin it’s déjà vu:

• Transition Date - November 30 – December 1 2018
• Petrotrin > New Company (name yet to be released)
• New workforce
• No unions
• No Collective Agreements
• Debt transferred to Taxpayers.

The Energy Minister in post-Budget interviews told us that ‘information must be released carefully’, in other words, the PNM government is concealing its MO in operation.
So, it is no mystery that the complete closure of Petrotrin, mothballing and privatisation of the refinery was nowhere in the documentation before August 28.
The company and subsidiaries are probably already registered but not disclosed.
The Budget Speech, while confirming the complete closure-seamless transition strategy, continued to conceal from public information the transfer of company debt to state debt and the consequences of importation of fuel importation on the pockets of the citizens.
The citizens, as the ultimate owners of the State-Owned Enterprises, must deeply analyse and learn from the MO of the PNM and these ‘seamless transformations’ which further burden them with the costs while private interests reap the benefits.
In these episodes, the citizens have absolutely NO say.
This is an issue of Public Right vs Private Right.  
 
 Clyde Weatherhead
A Citizen Fighting for
Democratic Renewal of
Our Society
3 October 2018
 

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