- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 10/Jul 18:32

Contractor files case against Cepep

ANOTHER contractor, Eastman Enterprise Ltd, has brought a claim against Cepep Company Ltd after the firing of over 10,000 workers. The claim was filed on July 9 in the name of Eastman Enterprise Ltd, seeking substantive and injunctive relief for, inter alia, the unlawful termination of contract carried out with immediate effect on June 27 by Cepep. A release signed by PNM PRO Faris Al-Rawi said the matter was heard in the High Court by Madame Justice Margaret Mohammed. The order from the court said Cepep has been given until July 14 to file and serve an affidavit in opposition. Eastman Enterprise Ltd has been given until July 16 to file and serve an affidavit to address any new matters. A virtual hearing for the application for the injunction against Cepep is set for hearing on July 18. Attempts to reach Cepep CEO Keith Eddy for comment were unsuccessful. The release said the claim was filed by a legal team comprising Kareem Marcelle and St Clair O’Neil led by Larry Lalla, SC. It said the callous action by Cepep affected hundreds of other contractors who collectively employ nearly 11,000 workers, the vast majority of whom earn as little as $120 per day and all of whom are now jobless and on the breadline without any word of relief from Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Cepep’s line Minister Barry Padarath, Minister Vandanna Mohit and Parliamentary Secretary Natalie Chaitan-Maharaj. The release said the PNM stands in defence of all contractors and workers who have been brutalised by this harsh and uncaring government. “The PNM will support other forms of action as may be advisable in the days ahead and will diligently seek to defend against the callous acts of the UNC government who seem to have nothing to offer other than contempt for ordinary and hardworking people. All citizens welfare and livelihoods matter and will be defended.” The release also said it was notable that former members and “so-called” leaders of the Trade Union Movement Ernesto Kesar, Clyde Elder and Leroy Baptiste “all of whom now outspoken ministers of government and who until the general elections of April 28 claimed to hold workers’ rights as priority, have not uttered a word of care for workers affected by the UNC government action. “Certainly the population expected these once vocal self-professed ‘comrades’ to have challenged the harsh and oppressive conduct of the UNC meted out to Cepep and forestry workers, who, together with other persons who have been terminated by the UNC government or whose contracts have not been renewed now total nearly 20,000 persons. “Equally the population expected the UNC as a whole to have walked a path of protecting the most vulnerable without regard to perceived political affiliation, as this was their public pledge and commitment up to a mere two months ago when they sang and boasted that everyone would win when the UNC won.” The post Contractor files case against Cepep appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.