Jamaica hit by T&T cement strike

(Trinidad Express) The workers strike at Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) has started to affect the company’s Jamaican subsidiary, forcing the Caribbean Cement Company Ltd to package its cement in bags with Spanish labels.

A Jamaica Observer report yesterday stated the Carib Cement Company is using bags with the Carib Cement OPC brand and labels and the TCL Premium Plus and the Carib Cement OPC brand to package its 42.5 kg bags but labelled in Spanish.

Carib Cement said in the article: “This became necessary because of the strike action at Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) and the company’s inability to receive bags from its supplier Trinidad Packaging Ltd (TPL), a subsidiary of TCL.”

Carib Cement assured customers the packaging issue was just an interim measure until the situation at TPL was resolved and additional information would be printed on the bags and fliers with information containing safety tips and general information would be available at points of sale.

TCL’s general manager Satnarine Bachew yesterday said he did not know how many bags the Jamaican company had but what it was doing was finding alternative bags to supply the market.

Bachew said in a phone interview from TCL’s Claxton Bay plant that TPL’s ability to supply the Jamaican company with bags would not improve until the strike was over.

President general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union Ancel Roget and TCL management had meetings with Labour Minister Errol McLeod at the Labour Ministry in Port of Spain yesterday.

Bachew said TCL hoped for a better outcome with regard to discussions on the strike at yesterday’s meeting.