Forged from the love of liberty, yes! But, unionised we might end right back in chains!

In the world of the time being, one of the fundamental reasons persons will forge bonds as a group is to get a better grasp of the broad picture -a multi-faceted organism is better able to cope with social issues, since it divergent parts allow it greater ability in broadening, deepening and raising of its perspectives.

A trade union is thus expected to follow that suit.

In a capitalist economy such as Trinbago's -some insist it's mixed- no 21st-century trade union ought to be seriously considered if, by its actions, it demonstrates aversion to the basics as just adumbrated.

Which brings me to the point of the imminent "strike" by the Oilfield Workers Trade Union [OWTU].

Many, many, many moons ago, Trinbago's Creator-endowed wealth was owned, lock-stock-and-barrel, by expatriates. And, why not? For then expatriates also owned Trinbago, lock-stock-and-barrel...including the overwhelming majority of the human stock. Eventually, after much blood, sweat and tears, enlightened and proactive leadership, those resources passed into Trinbago's own hands and, to the time of this writing, it is in Trinbago's hands they remain.

Without naming any of those leaders -such is not the present purpose...they're all dead any way...and who ent dead, mortally-wounded- suffice it to say it was their grasp of the big picture which galvanised them to blaze the trail which eventually led to citizen ownership of those assets, as they understood what "common wealth" means -they fought, tooth-and-nail, to stop our common wealth from benefitting the outside world more than it did the islands whence it was extracted.

It bewilders today to see how far off-course public sector trade unions have gone -perception is reality...they act as if blinkered to the true reality of who really owns the industries wherein they operate, therefore of who must profit the most from such industries' operations. It perplexes even more when, in the face of more than copious inducements already enjoyed, they would seek to bring the entire country to a halt because the current managers have the broader, not narrower, interests in mind. It behooves here and now to have a look-see at how, since 2000, the amount of money Petrotrin has spent on it production and administration costs...for semper res ipsa loquitor.

Pictures consume less time than words at times...especially when what must be relayed will take the breath away -fasten seatbelts, then...this is one such time!

Res ipsa loquitor -Case proved without having to call any witnesses! While Petrotrin's profitability has been ketching its nen-nen, its P.A.C. has never dipped below what it was in 2000, but for one solitary year -2002! In fact, P.A.C. has been behaving like Pacman on Red Bull -it gobbling nearly every cent Petrotrin makes!

Enough is enough!

Loudicrous Louquacioness.

One potent litmus test to determine the quality of life in any society is the evaluating of the way it treats its senior members:

• Fantastic? Loving, focused on the lofty, dismissive of everything banal and venal.
• Lukewarm? NIMBY...to the point of being callous.
• Hateful? Flippant, cavalier, preoccupied with the veneer not the substance, as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

Senior Citizens are worth their weight in silk -whatever value Trinbago today possesses is due mainly to their sterling contribution. Thus, by right, they deserve to be accorded SC honour and glory -Senior Citizens...Sterling Contribution, d'oh!

But His Worship, the Mayor of Port of Spain, Louis Lee Sing, is opposed to anything of the sort -he's insisting all T&T SCs must pay their way. (See: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,154332.html.)

Perhaps His Worship confused SCs who are worth their weight in silk with SCs who are waited upon because they wear silk?

Or maybe His Worship is just being Loudicrous?

Either way, it's worth doing a simple analysis to determine whether our innate SCs deserve the privileges SCs in the developed world take for granted.

As always, a picture is worth a thousand words, so, here goes:

And that's based on just silk, eh? Which is far less than how our SCs ought to be measured -in gold.

In closing, it's better for His Worship to direct his Louquacious energies towards whipping his Corporation into shape, for, last time I did an efficiency evaluation of the place, for every dollar spent, value received in return hovered around twenty-two cents.