Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT), today initiated its restructuring exercise with 468 employees receiving retrenchment notices. Of this number, 403 employees, comprising a mix of Junior and Senior Staff and Estate Police officers will, in keeping with the Collective Agreements with their representative unions, each receive payment in lieu of the regulatory 45 days’ notice.

On January 17, 2022, TSTT invited its employee representative unions to consultations regarding the proposed restructuring and refinement of its operating/business model. Consultations with employees and the representative majority unions, including the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) and Estate Police Association (EPA) began on February 01 and were conducted in good faith and in line with best Industrial Relations practice.

The company engaged with the RMUs and its employees by meeting virtually and by exchange of communication on matters related to the need for change, the rationale for the proposed structure, and its staffing.

The need to restructure TSTT is urgent and critical, necessitated both by the impact of challenging economic conditions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and the drastic effect of changes in technology on the company’s operation and performance.

In the financial year ended 31^st March 2021, TSTT’s revenue fell by TT$453 million – 18% less than the prior year.  This material decline was partly due to issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic and a combination of economic and technological factors both unique to the Trinidad and Tobago market as a direct result of the global digital revolution in the telecommunications industry.

Regionally and internationally, networks are under pressure: internet traffic is growing exponentially, but the price per gigabyte is declining almost as rapidly, and the result is a downward pressure on revenue growth and margins.

TSTT CEO Lisa Agard said, “Given our challenges, TSTT has no option but to restructure to remain competitive. We are moving to an operating model that is more in line with industry benchmarks, and one that will enable us to adapt and evolve with the constant developments in technology. This is our only option if we are to return to sustainable profitability.

“In devising the new organisation TSTT leveraged the model of “customer journeys” to envision what a new, streamlined, customer-obsessed organisation could look like, post restructuring.  TSTT believes that it has developed a dynamic and visionary future-state organisation that leverages the significant Capital investments that the Company has made in the technology areas, leading to its networks being at today’s cutting-edge level and able to support growth in the foreseeable future.”

The restructuring exercise is expected to result in a more efficient, customer-focused and modernised organisation.

Updated June 01, 2022: The Communication Workers Union was successful in securing an injunction from the Industrial court for 14 days.