WHAT trade unionists and politicians say on platforms, at rallies, in manifestos and in official state policy does not matter if none of it improves the average worker’s plight.

Today, we urge all parties and labour stakeholders to address the meat of the challenges within the labour sector, not merely engage in mamaguy and gallery for large, adoring crowds waving red and yellow flags. For instance, in the last five months alone, there have been 559 worksite accidents. What is the plan to address this? Petrotrin is not the only issue.

There is a sharp contrast between the theatrics of how labour figures and party leaders have, in the lead-up to the April 28 general election, strategically and conveniently married their interests and the sombre reality which other OSHA statistics reveal. As of February, five people have been killed at job sites and a dozen have been critically injured.

Meanwhile, labour has been busy.

Felisha Thomas, of the Public Services Association, appeared on a UNC platform on March 29. She followed Ancel Roget, of the Oilfields Workers Trade Union. Clyde Elder and Ernesto Kesar are among the labour figures contesting seats for the party.

Amid all this, the Prime Minister has highlighted his past work as a lawyer for trade unions; work for which, in his re-telling, he paid a heavy price under the PP administration. In Tobago, Watson Duke, who emerged on the national scene through Ms Thomas’s union, aspires to be kingmaker.

All these officials talk a good talk. But come April 29, will conditions in the labour sector improve?

The UNC promises to pay damages for the Paria tragedy.

But will OSHA rules be amended to remove uncertainty over the statute of limitations – a matter which governments have passed the buck on by leaving it to the Privy Council?

Will it be made easier for corporate manslaughter to be prosecuted?

The PNM boasts of increases in the minimum wage.

But which party is committed to a living wage, with mandatory review periods so that people do not fall behind?

Will the process of public servant salary negotiation be reformed so that workers are not held hostage by successive administrations?

A commission of enquiry was recently convened in relation to an infamous worksite tragedy.

But will the culture of secrecy be addressed through the mandatory publication of findings as they relate to worksite accidents, as occurs in other countries?

Will the process by which judges are appointed to the Industrial Court ever be changed?

Why was OSHA’s funding slashed by $52 million in the last budget? And which government will give it, on a permanent basis, the resources it needs to fully fulfil its mandate?

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