Always referred to as CATTU, the proper name of the Union was Communications, Transport and General Workers Trade Union. How you get CATTU out of that is a historical mystery.

The Union has now changed its name to the more obvious National Aviation Workers Union. The Industrial Relations Act (IRA) has designated Civil Aviation Services as an "Essential Industry". The definition is very broad:

"Civil Aviation Services (including all services provided by a commercial airline the majority of the aircraft of which are registered in Trinidad and Tobago or are  owned by citizens of Trinidad and Tobago or by a company incorporated in Trinidad and Tobago, aircraft maintenance, refuelling and ramp services, air traffic  control and meteorological services and airline catering services)."

Why this is  important to understand this because another section of the IRA prohibits a union that already has a bargaining unit in one essential industry  having a bargaining unit in another essential industry

"Subject to this Act, and in particular to sections 85 and 86, no application for certification of recognition under this Part shall be considered where the application relates to workers comprised in a bargaining unit in one category of essential industries and the claimant union is already certified as the recognised majority union for workers comprised in a bargaining unit in another category of essential industries."

In reality, this leaves most workers in civil aviation with very few options regarding which union to join—apart from the NAWU.  

When BWIA "closed" on 31st December 2006 (only to open up the next day as Caribbean Airlines Limited) it also closed thre BWIA General Staff Pension Plan. Needless to say, this has raised many questions that we are trying to address. 

In 2021, Caribbean Airlines was seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in mass redundancies across all staff groups. Have a look back at some of the information being dealt with at the time.