a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining
The law provides for the right of most workers, including those in state-owned enterprises, to form and join independent unions, bargain collectively, and conduct legal strikes, but with some limitations. The law’s definition of a worker excludes publicly appointed or elected officers in government; members of the defense force, police, fire, prison services; educators, managers, members of the Central Bank, apprentices, and domestic workers (house cleaners, chauffeurs, handymen, and gardeners), but domestic workers had an established trade union that advocated for their rights. A broad range of civil servants, including public servants and teachers are members of unions such as the Public Services Association and Trinidad Teachers Unified Teacher’s Association. Unions must have prior authorization, and penalties can be applied to officers of unions that do not have official registration. Unions are precluded by law from engaging in political activities, and the government can unilaterally deregister a union under a variety of conditions.
The law prohibits employers from discriminating against workers due to union membership and mandates reinstatement of workers illegally dismissed for union activities. Penalties were commensurate with penalties for other laws involving denials of civil rights, such as discrimination. Penalties were sometimes applied against violators.
By law, only officially registered unions may engage in collective bargaining, and they must demonstrate the support of an absolute majority of workers to be certified as a recognized majority union to engage in bargaining. Observers noted this requirement limited the right of collective bargaining. Collective bargaining agreements must be registered with the Ministry of Labour and are not binding until registered in the Industrial Court. They may be unilaterally cancelled or modified if the union that negotiated them loses its registration. The minister of labor must refer the matter to the Industrial Court for registration or submit notification to the parties and the court of any objections in writing within 14 days. If the minister or the parties cannot agree, the court may unilaterally execute and enforce a binding agreement upon the parties. Collective agreement negotiations are subject to mandatory mediation and must cover a minimum of three years and no more than five years, making it almost impossible for such agreements to include workers who are on short-term contracts. According to the National Trade Union Center, the requirement that all negotiations go through the government’s chief personnel officer, rather than through the individual government agency or government-owned industry, added significant delays. Some unions claimed the government undermined the collective bargaining process by pressuring the committee to offer raises of no more than 5 percent over three years.
There are significant impediments to exercising the right to strike. Strikes must have prior authorization, which requires the ministry to certify that a dispute is unresolved. Authorities may prohibit strikes at the request of one party unless the strike is called by a union representing a majority of the workers. Strikes to protect workers from discipline under agreed contractual terms. Strikes over political issues and sympathy or solidarity strikes are considered unlawful. Employees providing a broad range of essential services, including police, fire, prison, teaching, central bank, public health, public utilities, communication services, public transport, civil aviation, and meteorological services, do not have the right to strike. These employees are referred direction to a special tribunal in the Industrial Court to resolve labor disputes. The minister of labor may petition the court to curtail any strike he or she deems harmful to national interests.
In March, the chief personnel officer commenced wage negotiations with 11 public service associations and unions to discuss revised terms and conditions for approximately 90,000 public-sector employees. Before negotiations concluded, the minister of finance announced plans to refer the wage negotiations to the Industrial Court’s special tribunal. One union said the referral undermined the entire wage negotiations process.
b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits and criminalizes all forms of forced or compulsory labor. The government enforced the law effectively, and penalties were commensurate with those for other laws involving denials of civil rights, such as discrimination. Forced labor cases are referred to the labor inspectorate for investigation. Refugees and migrants from Venezuela, in particular, those lacking legal status, were at risk for forced labor in domestic service and the retail sector.
The Ministry of Labour’s chief labor relations officer, Sabina Gomez, stated that exploitation of migrants was a serious problem. She noted that from January to June, her unit received reports from 10 migrants that their employers were taking advantage of them. Gomez maintained that labor laws applied to both citizens and noncitizens.
Also see the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/.
d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation
The law prohibits employment discrimination based on political opinion, sexual orientation, gender identity, language, age, disability, HIV, or other communicable disease status. The government generally enforced the law effectively, but discrimination in employment occurred with respect to disability. The law does not require equal pay for equal work between men and women. Women’s pay lagged men’s, especially in the private sector. Penalties were not commensurate with laws related to civil rights, such as election interference. Penalties were sometimes applied against violators.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Wage and Hour Laws: The national minimum wage was greater than the official poverty income level. The Ministry of Labour is responsible for enforcing labor laws related to minimum wage and acceptable conditions of work. The law establishes a 40-hour workweek, a daily period for lunch or rest, and premium pay for overtime. The law does not prohibit excessive or compulsory overtime. The law provides for paid leave, with the amount of leave varying according to length of service.
Occupational Safety and Health: Occupational safety and health (OSH) standards are appropriate for the main industries in the country. Responsibility for identifying unsafe situations remained with OSH experts and not the worker. The law gives workers the right to remove themselves from situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment; authorities generally protected this right.
Under the OSH Act, the maximum punishable fine is 20,000 Trinidadian dollars ($2,900) for each breach. Breaches resulting in death, critical injury, or occupational disease carry an additional fine of 100,000 Trinidad dollars ($14,700) or an amount equivalent to three years’ pay of a deceased or injured worker.
In February, four divers died while doing repairs and maintenance work on an oil pipeline underwater for state-owned Paria Fuel Trading Company. A commission of enquiry, initiated six months after the accident, continued at year’s end.
Wage, Hour, and OSH Enforcement: The government effectively enforced minimum wage, overtime, and OSH laws. Resources, inspections, and penalties appeared adequate to deter violations. With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the labor inspectorate resumed in-person inspections.
The labor inspectorate employed 14 labor inspectors, which was insufficient to enforce compliance. The inspectors are responsible for ensuring both employers and employees are aware of their rights and responsibilities. The unit is tasked with conducting periodic inspections to verify if the workplace is managed in accordance with the law and to follow up on reports of violations.
Penalties for wage, overtime, and OSH violations were less than penalties for similar violations such as negligence. Penalties were regularly applied against violators.
Informal Sector: The Central Bank estimated that informal-sector workers accounted for 5 percent of the labor force. Some NGOs believed this number to be much higher and growing, due to tax laws, fewer legal encumbrances in the informal sector, retrenchment because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the influx of refugees and migrants, and the lack of laws governing refugee or asylum status, which forced even highly skilled refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers to work informally. Informal-sector workers were concentrated in farming, carpentry, catering and food services, car repair, street vending, crafts, beauty and wellness, gardening, landscaping, medical services, cleaning, private security, manual labor, and domestic work.
Workers in the informal economy reported wages above the national minimum wage but reported other labor laws, including limits on the number of hours worked, were not enforced.
Workers in the informal economy meeting the definition of a worker are entitled to protections under the Industrial Relations Act. Domestic workers, most of whom worked as maids and nannies, are not covered by this law because they fail to meet the definition of a worker. They are entitled to protections under the Minimum Wages Order and the Maternity Protection Act granting them the same protections afforded other workers under these laws.