The Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union has condemned what it calls “the reckless corporate conduct” which led to Newsday collapsing.
BIGWU stated that a Liquidator has been appointed, and there are not enough assets to pay the affected workers.
It has called on the High Court to demand full transparency from the Liquidator, to shed light on any unfair practices on the part of the company.
“BIGWU is calling upon the High Court to demand full transparency from the Liquidator: disclosure of independent valuations, sale prices, and scrutiny of any transactions over the last seven years that may have prejudiced workers’ claims. Insolvency must not become a shield behind which unfair practices are hidden,” BIGWU stated in a media release.
The union said the workers are being forced to carry the cost of corporate failure and it claims that the newspaper’s management never secured workers’ severance.
“The truth is uncomfortable: Daily News Limited never secured workers’ severance. Like many companies, it merely recorded severance as a bookkeeping entry under IAS 19. But accounting is not protection. A number on a balance sheet does not put food on a family’s table when a company collapses,” the union stated.
BIGWU says workers are not disposable, and severance is not charity—it is deferred wages.
“When employers become insolvent, workers’ wages and severance must be protected; either by privileged ranking or by a guaranteed institution that ensures payment even when employers fail. Trinidad and Tobago has lagged behind that standard for too long.”
