Leaders of at least 12 trade unions in Trinidad and Tobago led workers, politicians and other supporters in a protest march through Port of Spain on Saturday, October 31, 2026, challenging the policies of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s administration and calling attention to concerns affecting workers.
The demonstration, which included chants of “Kamla must go,” was held to highlight grievances surrounding wages, salaries and workers’ rights. Participants marched through areas on the outskirts of the capital, including near the Office of the Prime Minister.
- Advertisement -
However, Persad-Bissessar dismissed the protest as politically and racially motivated, accusing the unions and the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) of acting out of hostility towards her United National Congress (UNC) administration rather than pursuing better benefits for their members.
Ahead of the demonstration, on Friday, October 30, 2026, the prime minister said: “Sadly, no matter what the UNC government does for some trade unions, it will never be enough.”
She also defended her administration’s record, pointing to efforts to pay outstanding back pay, provide updated salaries, offer 10 per cent increases and introduce labour legislation intended to protect workers.
Persad-Bissessar further accused the unions of failing to protest against the previous PNM administration during its 10 years in office, claiming that workers had faced inadequate responses to their demands for salary increases and outstanding payments.
Following the march on Saturday, October 31, she described the demonstration as a failure and referred to it as a “long touted hate protest,” telling participants to return to work on Monday, November 2.
Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles, who joined the demonstration on October 31, rejected the prime minister’s claims that the protest was driven by racial tensions or political hatred. She maintained that the concerns raised by the unions were centred on wages, salaries and workers’ rights.
“That is always her defence mechanism. She brings in race in everything. And this issue of wages and salaries has nothing to do with race,” Beckles said.
She also argued that workers who had supported the UNC before the election were now expressing dissatisfaction with the administration and exercising their right to demand better treatment.
National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) General Secretary Michael Annisette confirmed that organisers had rejected a request from senior police officers to postpone the march because of security demands associated with Tobago Carnival, which also began on Friday, October 30.
Annisette said the unions had already rescheduled the demonstration and that another postponement at short notice would have frustrated workers and other supporters preparing to participate.
“The march is on,” he declared before the demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday, October 31.
Notably absent from the march were the leadership of two major labour organisations, the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and the Public Services Association (PSA). However, one protester wearing an OWTU jersey criticised the union’s executive, accusing its leadership of being too closely aligned with the Government.
The demonstration underscored continuing tensions between sections of the trade union movement and the Persad-Bissessar administration, with disagreements over workers’ concerns and the Government’s handling of labour relations remaining at the centre of the dispute.
