Trinidad and Tobago-based distribution conglomerate, Massy Group, is facing backlash over allegations of questionable and lavish spending by the company’s management.

The Contractors and General Workers Trade Union (CAGWTU), which represents monthly-paid workers at its Trinbagonian operations, has called for an investigation into how the Massy prioritises questionable arbitrary spending over the workers they call family.

In a statement over the weekend, CAGWTU says it is extremely concerned over reports emanating from Massy’s recently held 100th annual general meeting (AGM).

At this meeting, it is being reported that executive vice president Angelique Parisot-Potter raised issues about the company’s spending of scarce foreign exchange on an executive management programme in Fort Myers, Florida. She claims this involves “bizarre rituals” and “highly dubious activities.” 

Questionable activities

It is being reported that during the AGM, Parisot-Potter claimed that employees were being trained to communicate with the dead and self-heal with “white light energy”. In response, CAGWTU is contending that Massy’s president and CEO Gervase Warner had no difficulty justifying between US$500,000 and US$1 million a year on the executive leadership training in question.

Further, the union drew reference to the reported audited financials for the year ending September 30, 2023, where Massy’s revenue increased by 15 per cent to $14.19 billion, and its profit before tax was up by 23 percent at $1.22 billion.

“Notwithstanding, in the face of all these profits and the arbitrary spending of the country’s foreign exchange, Massy has sent home single mothers and refused to settle negotiations with its workers at Massy Stores even as they are referred to as “family”, CAGWTU said in its statement.

According to the union, “it is now being revealed how Massy has prioritised spending money with a focus on the executive management leadership team. This revelation has raised some serious concerns as it relates to the use of our scarce foreign exchange in this era of modern technology to allegedly engage in activities which delve into the dark world of occultism.”

The union called on the Massy Group to address this stigma, which has made its members at Massy Stores the laughingstock of the nation by the various social media postings poking fun at them and Massy Stores. It says Massy has a responsibility to show a duty of care by focusing on and prioritising the workers who have helped the company make huge profits over the years.

“Instead of a witch hunt, no pun intended, an investigation must be conducted into how the Massy Group prioritises questionable arbitrary spending over the workers they call family,” CAGWTU declared in its statement.