Trade union lead­ers are di­vid­ed over a call from with­in the labour move­ment for lead­ers to put po­lit­i­cal loy­al­ties aside and stand up for work­ers fac­ing re­trench­ment, stag­nant wages and grow­ing un­cer­tain­ty over their fu­tures.

This fol­lows a warn­ing from Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Work­ers’ Union sec­re­tary gen­er­al Joanne Ogeer, who on Mon­day called for greater uni­ty among trade unions and ques­tioned the si­lence of some labour or­gan­i­sa­tions as work­ers come un­der in­creas­ing pres­sure.

Trinidad and To­ba­go Na­tion­al Nurs­es As­so­ci­a­tion (TTNNA) pres­i­dent Idi Stu­art sup­ports Ogeer’s call. But he says po­lit­i­cal align­ment has al­ready come at a cost for some unions.