Ancel Roget, President of Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) president  and the man who made popular the term “one percenters” to refer to the Trinidadian-Syrian community, has come under fire for directing racial slurs to the media during a press conference on Tuesday, as he condemned the coverage during the 2020 general election season.

“Even though you (media) would carry out the dictates for the local, modern-day massas and write against the trade union movement,I want to remind you house n*ggers in the Guardian and the Express, and the Newsday and so on…we have been raising these issues all of the time,” Roget chided, accusing the daily newspapers of “writing against the trade union” by making it appear the union’s call for government to honour outstanding wage negotiations was timed for the political climate, with a general election due in days.

“Any self-respecting editor who is not in the hands or at the behest of their one per cent or their modern-day slavemaster would agree with this position,” he said.

In response to his statements, President of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Sheila Rampersad, described it as “an egregious example of infantile leadership to attack a free press that has represented the voice of workers throughout the history of media in TT.”