(CMC) The Guardian Media Ltd (GML) has announced the retrenchment of 31 employees saying it “was not an easy decision” to do so.
GML, a subsidiary of the ANSA McAL Group, publishes the Guardian newspaper and operates CNC3 Television, the TBC Radio Network and the Big Board Company.
The company in December last year, sent home 16 employees.
A GML statement noted that the staff reduction was necessary to make sure the company’s costs reflect the new economic reality in Trinidad and Tobago and that the changes are also part of a wider transformation plan Guardian Media is implementing to remain successful in the digital age.
“The day has been difficult as we adjust to the changes and say farewell to colleagues we respect and enjoyed sharing the work environment with.
“This was not an easy decision for us but we felt it was necessary as we want to make sure that, as the Guardian newspaper marks its centenary year, we are ready for the next century ahead of us,” said Guardian Media’s Managing Director Lucio Mesquita.
Last week, the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU) President Vincent Caberra accused GML of engaging in “unnecessary” retrenchments which he described as “unpatriotic”
“Let me say from the outset, that BIGWU has evidence which we have already placed before the industrial court arising out of a complaint already lodged by the union for an order against the employer for a commission of an industrial relations offence that this employer has skillfully, or rather not so skillfully, manipulated the presentation of figures to the trade union in an attempt to dupe us into believing that the print section of the GML had been losing money.” Cabrera said.
But GML said that Caberra was wrong, noting that “as a publicly traded company, our financial statements are published every quarter and are independently audited on an annual basis in accordance with international accounting standards”.
