THE EDITOR: The writer of the letter "Aspiring to First World Status" makes several valid points about workers' attitudes that are preventing Trinidad and Tobago from achieving "first World Status". I often cite such unproductive behaviours myself.

However, workers' attitudes are only one part of the picture, and the writer's perception of the "First World" is not current in some important ways.

He makes little or no mention of the part that appropriate attitudes on the part of the employers and the governments of First World countries have played in developing those workers' attitudes that he laments are lacking in Trinidad. 

Employers in the First World countries by and large have to pay workers on a scale commensurate with their work. They have to provide safe and reasonable working conditions.

They have responded to changing needs and standards of working conditions and social norms. They have not always done so willingly. There's always been opposition for example, to a minimum wage, and employers still cheat on issues like overtime and safety.

But by and large either government or social or union pressure has moved employers in First World countries to provide conditions conducive to productive and satisfied workers. Accountability is insisted upon, but accountability applies in both directions.

That a person in a country the size of Trinidad has to wake up at 4:30a.m. to get to a job by 7:30 a.m. is commendable on the part of that person, but reprehensible on the part of those responsible for the transportation infrastructure or in determining working conditions.

None of this is to say that I am excusing the lackadaisal or "fraudulent" behaviours among workers cited in the letter. In fact I abhor such attitudes.

But at the same time, the absence of fair, socially responsible and enlightened management can be expected to result in such unproductive employees. Make no mistake.

The reason those foreign employers cited by the writer who "love the way we are dedicated and hardworking, and are usually willing to renew their employment agreements with citizens of this land" isn't always an altruistic one. I take it the writer is referring mostly to enterprises that are employing "guest workers".

It is known that "guest workers" are often exploited but are productive nevertheless because whatever little they earn is more than they would get back home, can lose their jobs without due process, often without prior notice, and have no rights or redress. 

It is also known that employers in that situation do "love" those uncomplaining workers. Who wouldn't? Why do you think some First World countries are outsourcing so much of their more arduous and dangerous work?

To the extent that many office workers in the First World "who, after a long day at the office, has a night job elsewhere; or the apple pickers who work such long hours" actually represents a retreat from traditional "First World" standards in which socially responsible employers used to pay a living wage. 

The writer incorrectly assumes that those in the First World who commit fraud on a scale far larger than any number of low level employees put together are inevitably punished by the justice system.

It is indeed laudable that Trinidad and Tobago is trying to move towards First World Status. Just be sure that the perception of what that status really means and implies is a comprehensive, informed one.
Louis Sellier, Seattle, WA, USA