Claxton Bay: A bus taking 25 female workers away from the Claxton Bay plant of Trinidad Cement Limited came under attack around 3 pm from assailants who hurled rocks towards the vehicle.
The incident happened along the Macaulay Road less than a mile from the TCL plant.
Two people were injured as the windows of the bus were smashed in.
TCL's management has condemned the attack as an act of terrorism and hooliganism but the protestors at the strike camp say they are not to blame for the development.
TCL's General Manager Satnarine Bachew believes the protestors were incensed because tcl has finally started up one of its plants known as the HCDR Mill with the help of 100 workers and managed to produce 375 tonnes of cement.
Bachew argued that the workers had a right to choose whether they wanted to work or not.
The company has employed additional security including 14 armed guards attached to the Allied Security Services at the entrance to the TCL compound.
Bachew says TCL remains coimmitted to providing safety for anyone who chooses to return to work, saying what happened at Macaulay is a violation of the right of the employer.
The workers at the strike camp are distancing themselves from this latest development.
Eutrice Scandish, the branch secretary for the Oilfields Workers Trade Union said they were definitely not to blame.
She suggested investigators look instead to the villagers who are upset that TCL has cut off water from them and have their own axes to grind.
On Tuesday Labour Minister Errol McLeod met with the union and TCL's management seperately in a bid to end the strike.
He expressed optimism and they've agreed to meet again at the earliest convenience.
Under the law the minister can intervene by issuing a unresolved certificate if no solution is forthcoming following which the company can take the matter to the Industrial Court to stop the strike.
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