Frustrated ArcelorMittal’s former workers who were hoping to take an early retirement and cash in on their pension plans to help pay their bills no longer have that option.
This was the message an emotional Christopher Henry, president of the Steel Workers Union of T&T (SWUTT), gave to his members yesterday, following a meeting on Monday night with ArcelorMittal, Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus and Republic Bank on Monday night.
Hundreds of grim-faced former workers yesterday crammed into the SWUTT office along the Southern Main Road, Point Lisas, for a press conference to get information the union had received on the pension fund.
“We went in that meeting asking the question as it relates to the application of workers between the ages of 50 to 59 who wanted to have access to early retirement, early pension,” Henry said.
“What we found out, comrades, is that the company, by initiating the article of termination, has denied the workers the right to access pension.
“We did not get pay for all the years of service by the company and the expectation of a pension and a lump sum to pay our mortgages and our bills has been denied, so we are a workforce that has been denied the right to be employed as the company decided to do a voluntary winding up, denied the right to earn a living... to severance benefits... because the laws of this country have not changed since inception.
“Government came, government go, no one would have attempted to change or bring (new) legislation,” he added.
Now, Henry said, the billion-dollar capital of the pension plan would be placed in the hands of insurance companies.
“A liquidator is to be appointed today and what has to happen... $1 billion that we have in Republic Bank now has to be placed in the hands of an insurance company which will invest it to realise an annuity to pay the workforce and we could only access when we reach 60.”
He said even after the money was invested, the workers were not sure to get full value on their pension plan.
He added: “That is the reality that is before us. We will not get a cent from our pension plan that we contributed to, that is presently $1 billion sitting in Republic Bank, until we reach the age of 60.
“And we are not sure if that investment that is going to be made by the actuaries and the bank is going to yield the pension that we presently have statement for.
“For example, if you were going to get a pension of $8,000 to $10,000, you are now going to get a pension of $6,000.”
Henry also knocked the Government for its hands off approach to ArcelorMittal’s decision to wind-up operations in T&T, saying the union and the workers will not give up their fight.
“We are going to continue to call on the Government to make an intervention here on behalf of the workers, just like Clico.
“We are asking that they stop this multi-national which has used the law to their advantage and to the detriment of workers.
“We have been making calls since December. We have written the Prime Minister (Dr Keith Rowley) twice and he has not responded to us,” he added.