00:00This is sewer water and cement stink. Sewer water running out here.
00:07Members of the seamen and waterfront workers trade union say they are fed up of the working conditions they are
00:13forced to endure on a daily basis at the port in Port of Spain.
00:17Kari Gregoire, a representative of the port workers, tells TV6 that they have been dealing with a number of health
00:23and safety issues for a long period of time and now they are completely fed up.
00:28On the compound there is a great rat infestation issue. We know the consequences of working around, dealing around where
00:38rats and its feces might be.
00:41Workers still have to face that on a regular basis in the sheds on them.
00:45Yesterday we had an issue where in one of the sheds on them there is pigeon and rat. They had
00:50a dead carcass somewhere about in the shed.
00:53And when we seek to get the compound cleaned and fumigated, it leads to be an issue.
01:03Dealing with rats and pigeons isn't the only issue either. They complain that some of the equipment and facilities being
01:10used by the workers are also defective.
01:12There is a lot of hole in the compound where the truck drivers, the ITV operators have to drive, are
01:17defecting the trucks and just imagine the trucks as well by metal and the workers inside of the truck being
01:22defected by it too.
01:23We can't complain and see where it is because they tend to victimise us when it is we do lodge
01:27a complaint.
01:28Gregoire says their complaints and requests have fallen on deaf ears when made to management.
01:33So the workers are hoping that those in higher authority can help their situation because the port plays a crucial
01:39role in this country's economy.
01:41At the end of the day, we see the archery of the country and it hardly have any factories here
01:46in Trinidad and Tobago that is manufactured or anything.
01:49Everything is imported. Some might come on plane, most will come on vessels. We have a port down on the
01:54south side.
01:55And the working conditions and the benefit of the sweat and labour is no way of the same. So workers
02:03tend to have a problem with that.
02:06The port workers also indicated that they have not received PPE gear in two years and are still working on
02:13a 2013 salary in 2026,
02:15while night shift workers are also encountering problems in receiving a bonus which they are entitled to for working that
02:22shift.
02:23They are hoping that their needs will be considered in the upcoming national budget.
02:28Dominic Ramroop, TV6 News.
02:30Thank you, God.
02:31We are having a pleasure.
02:32Oh, God.
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