Above: Trinidad PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar (TIS Photo)

Trinidad Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has expressed confidence that there will be no general national strike, following meetings with labour leaders yesterday.

There have been ongoing negotiations between the government and labour unions, centering on the question of a five percent cap on wages.

“I indicated to [the unions] there is no five percent cap and the unions should go back to the bargaining table with the management of the respective employers and start from fresh at the bargaining table … start from zero,” she said.

The prime minister said that while the unions “may take industrial action as they are entitled to do,” her government had contingency plans in place.

“I have no reason to doubt otherwise or to believe there is going to be a national strike,” she said yesterday. “There may be a strike of some workers but not a national strike.”

There are 32,000 public servants and 4,000 Water and Sewage Authority workers who fall under the umbrella of the Public Services Association which had settled negotiations.

–Trinidad Information Service