20 employees from the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross and the Port Authority Tobago have been quarantined. Workers yesterday expressed their dire concerns over the rate positive Covid-19 cases were spreading at the Port of Scarborough. During a phone interview with the Public Services Association (PSA), workers called for the Port to shut down so that mass testing of all employees can be done. 

Executive Member of the PSA, Kellon Wallace, stated that the situation should be immediately mitigated to prevent any possible deaths amongst workers. He stated that what happened at the Airport Authority in Tobago, where two workers lost their lives to Covid-19, was very unfortunate and should not have the possibility of happening at the Tobago’s Port Authority. 

Red Cross workers, who are contracted by the Port, expressed that since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, their salaries had been drastically cut. Added to this, they said that their payment statuses were unsure if they have to be quarantined.  When questions were posed to their management about payment whilst on quarantine no clear answers were given. This, workers said was distasteful as there had already been an earlier deduction in their salaries. 

Wallace stated that the union and the management of the Red Cross are treating with the matter as this further compounded the issue of workers’ salaries not being maintained, even though the Port maintained their payment to the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross.