CAL pilots picket Finance Minister’s office

CARIBBEAN Airlines (CAL) pilots say they are prepared for their ongoing wage-negotiations impasse with the company to reach the courts.

The pilots, members of the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots Association (TTALPA), held another silent picket on October 30 at the Eric Williams Financial Complex on Independence Square in Port of Spain.

They expressed their disapproval of the lack of response from Finance Minister Colm Imbert to their hand-delivered letter on October 14.

The letter contained proposals for the 2015-2020 negotiation period, as the pilots are currently working under the terms and conditions of a collective labour agreement for 2010-2015.

TTALPA trustee Keith Dowdy said although the negotiating period ends in November, the pilots are picketing to show their commitment to getting a fair collective agreement and dialogue.

He said with the deadline looming, nothing has been resolved and TTALPA has several concerns.

“The placards have not changed, the ask has not changed, but our concerns have heightened because what we are realising now is that there’s a strained relationship between the pilot body and (the Minister of Finance) and we do not understand that.

“CAL has already invested excessive amounts of money to expand, and in expansion you need the support of the pilots.

“We want to support the airline. We are patriots of the soil and we would like to see the matter resolved.”

He said without dialogue, the relationship between the airline and the pilots will be dysfunctional.

“You cannot base an expansion and an investment on a relationship that is dysfunctional and expect success.

“So if it fails, what is at fault, who is at fault? So that’s why our concerns have been heightened.”

Dowdy said the pilots plan to continue to picket until they get a response, but added they are prepared for the matter to go to the Ministry of Labour for conciliation talks, and then to the courts if no agreement is reached.

Responding to the pilots’ claims, Imbert said CAL’s current financial condition must be considered.

He said, in a media release, while CAL “may be heading for an operational profit,” the ministry has taken over its debts and debt servicing obligations over the last nine years and covers a significant portion of CAL’s annual expenses.

Imbert said he was advised by CAL that the pilots receive competitive salaries, allowances, and per diem rates that “place them among the highest-earning professionals in the region.”

He provided a table outlining the starting salary of a CAL pilot ($22, 818 per month) and noted senior pilots earn as much as $94,760 per month.

Pilots also receive average monthly allowances and per diem amounting to $42,714 per month.

Imbert said notwithstanding this, he will provide further support to CAL to settle the wage dispute “within reason, and once good sense prevails.”

 

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