9 Days of TCL Strike & Counting! Cement Shortage Inescapable

Up to yesterday, Wednesday March 7, workers at the Trinidad Cement Ltd. (TCL) were still in dispute with their bosses over salary increases. The effect in Trinidad is already being felt and has left companies calling on the government for help.

If the situation continues, it may mean a serious cement shortage will occur. In fact, from as far back as last week “industry sources [were] saying that a cement scarcity could materialize in a matter of days as the company’s two local production plants lie idle.”The strike has gone on already for nine days. The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturing Association (TTMA) report a number of affected businesses, including: Trinidad Aggregate Products (TAP), Alston’s Building Enterprises Limited (ABEL), Coosal’s Construction, Specialist Chemicals Limited (SCL), Precast Concrete Services Limited, Bonsal Caribbean and Pres-T-Con Limited, “all of which depend on a steady supply of cement.”

“(These companies) employ thousands of people. As the strike continues for a ninth day, several of these companies are now facing a complete shutdown of operations as supplies of cement run low,” the Association stated in a recent release to the media.