The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) and Collective Energy Limited have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding aimed at advancing human capital development in T&T’s energy sector.

A signing ceremony between the OWTU and Collective Energy Limited, held at OWTU’s headquarters on Thursday, was described by both parties as a “milestone” following months of collaboration and planning.

Dr. Joseph Khan of Collective Energy Limited emphasised the critical need for workforce training and capacity building as the country prepares for a potential energy boom.

“Part of our focus and our mandate is to work together to train, retrain, support learning, unlearning, relearning in various areas in the industry, and we found it fitting that we come together and we agree in this collective way that we will work together to design interventions geared towards capacity building.”

OWTU President General Ancel Roget expressed confidence in the government’s efforts to attract foreign investment and revitalise the energy sector.

He stressed that the collaboration would ensure local workers are equipped with cutting-edge skills to compete for prime positions in the industry.

“The level of underdevelopment that this sector went through, the level of exploitation that the energy sector workers were met with over that last period – we want to change that, flip that on its head, where everybody will be properly well-trained, on the cutting edge, ready to be able to deliver, and not have the unfortunate situation of the expatriates coming and taking all of the prime jobs and so on in those sectors.”

The first beneficiaries of the agreement will be OWTU members across a range of industries, including oil, electricity, fuel distribution and manufacturing.

The initiative will also extend into areas such as renewable energy, health and safety, and leadership development, creating pathways for workers to advance from technical to managerial levels.