THE WORK, IT NEVER STOPS

LONG DAYS AND NIGHTS OF JENNIFER BAPTISTE

By Joanne Briggs

Trinidad Guardian

December 3, 1999

Page 11

It is 5.30 p.m. President of the Public Services Association (PSA), Jennifer Baptiste, with fatigue etched on her face, gets an update from one of her senior officers. She speaks to him from her executive desk on which five piles of manila files are neatly stacked. She uses them to support herself as she relates the events from the lengthy meeting she just had with the Chief Personnel Officer.

The conversation is quick and to the point as she departs hastily to meet with Ashram Beharry of the Water ad Sewerage Authority (WASA) in St Joseph. "This is round two," she explained.

Last month, workers at the plant staged a work-to-rule, which resulted in a near crisis in the water supply to most areas of Trinidad.

It took two weeks of non-stop negotiations before an agreement was reached. Meetings sometimes went as late as 2 a.m.

Of late, she has been surviving on three hours of sleep a day. And that, she said, has to stop.

"I am mentally drained," admitted the 46-year-old executive. "Everyday, my schedule is a hectic one. Sometimes, I attend three or four meetings and, in between, I have my administrative work to do." She is also the PSA's chief executive officer. "In addition to that, I have representation…I have matters at the disciplinary tribunal…I try to keep my specialist skill, that is representing members at the level of the disciplinary tribunal and the industrial court. But it is very, very difficult."

She calls her diary a nightmare. At the end of November, January 2000 is almost fully booked. But she credits her survival to faith in God.

If it were not for the strength given by the Almighty, she did not think she would have had the ability to do several different things simultaneously in this dynamic job.

"You come in a morning and you would have your schedule all mapped out. And then, different crises develop out there and some members demand: "But why can't the president come and attend to my matter?" she related.

Her daily routine starts between 7 and 7.30 a.m. when she arrives at the PSA headquarters on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain. She does not leave there until 10 p.m. "I find little time to spend with my children," she lamented. And personal time does not exist. On weekends, she either goes to work or carries the work home. On a Sunday, for example, she would allocate four hours in the afternoon or at night to PSA work.

However, she is trying to restructure here work life. Her role is now under constitutional review where the office and functions of president, the whole burden under the present structure, are being looked at. One recommendation made by a consultant is to make the post of first vice president full-time.

"I don't know of any other president in any other union who has to work these long hours," she said. "Many of the functions I may be called upon to perform can easily be delegated to other senior employees within the organisation. So I can be relieved of these and focus on policy formation and the political aspect, which is defending public officers."

"The next century is almost upon us and this organisation must be shaped or reshaped in such a way so as not only to continue to make it relevant, but to have this organisation as a fighting organisation, operating at a higher level of efficiency," she said.

While she is aware that her Herculean workload could be very detrimental to her health, her eyes reflect a fighting spirit not willing to rest until she has found victory for the people she represents.

Baptiste has a long-term plan. She intends to be PSA president for another four-year term, a decision that she has already indicated to the membership, the executive and various levels of the union.

"I think in eight years I would have been able to reshape the organisation and put it in a positive growth-oriented direction. Then I'll pass the baton to whomever is willing to accept it," she said.

After that, politics will come in the picture. However, she said, she would have to scan the "respective conditions" of the time to make a final determination on party affiliation. Ironically, she has been accused of being too political in her post as president by government sympathizers.

"But it is a political position," she contended. "We are unique in that the government is the employer and the decisions of the government will impact either positively or negatively on our membership. We interface directly with the political directorate. When you are dealing with the government you can't hope to escape the politics of any issue."

However, from a unionist's standpoint, she laughed and shook her head at Opposition Leader Patrick Manning's proposal to raise the salaries of public servants.

"We are aware of what politicians give," she said. "They would make any promise to you they believe you want to hear." Public officers should listen carefully. "Manning did not make any specific promise…there was a conditionality…he was being very clever," she added.

As for the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Hochoy Charles, she said, "he should be sensitised in terms of protocol and how he should proceed on certain matters."

Baptiste said Charles kept her waiting almost five hours when she went to Tobago to address the issue of the non-payment of salaries to public officers in October.

Five minutes after leaving his office to catch her 3 p.m. flight back to Trinidad, she was told his chief administrator called to say Charles was now ready to meet with her.

But six weeks later, Charles sent a written invitation to Baptiste and two other union leaders to discuss a solution to the problem of the payment of salaries.

Baptiste admitted that, because of her busy PSA schedule, she did not have the time to read Charles' letter. "I hope he can bear with us," she added.

On November 19, the 61^st anniversary of the union, Baptiste said Tobago public servants displayed a "wonderful expression of dissatisfaction" as they demonstrated for the first time ever. She termed the event an historic one.

She said those were the reasons she had no political affiliation, because situations can be easily compromised. "Once you are a trade union leader, you ought not to fraternize with the government," she added. "When it is election time, like any other citizen, I look and listen to plans and programmes and vote accordingly.

"I am not here to apologise to anyone for what I say. I am not here to say nice things to people to make them feel nice. I am here to represent members in the best way I know."

In the National Trade Union Centre, to which the PSA is affiliated, the political issue is also raised. Its general secretary, Selwyn John, President of the National Union of Government and Federated Workers, is a government senator. Its assistant general secretary, Vincent Cabrera, is also a senator.

Baptiste sighed and commented "Natuc has serious problems." However, she said she did not want to disclose any simmering issues, preferring tot use internal and available mechanisms of Natuc to sort them out.

One issue affecting the public was the cancellation of the special convention scheduled to take place on November 20^th.

Natuc said the convention was called specifically for the election of new officers, which was constitutionally due since April.

Neither John nor the Oilfield Workers Trade Union's (OWTU) president general, Errol McLeod, can be returned as secretary general and president respectively.

While she tackles those internal issues, on her main plate is the public servants' collective agreement for 1999-2001, which she termed a frustrating and burdensome exercise.

"We are going into a season where a lot of interest wanes. Once you enter December, people are not seriously focused. Christmas and Carnival…that is part of the national psyche and that is something we have to live with," Baptiste commented.

Yet she quipped that, come next year, public officers will be mobilized to hit the streets if negotiations continued to go at the slow non-productive pace.

"Rest assured the restlessness of public officers will be felt in all quarters," she said. "The government talks about wanting better packages for nursing and medical personnel, but that articulated intention is not matched by serious counter proposals around the negotiating table with the CPO," she added.

Her energy surged as she talked about plans to restructure the public service into a private sector mode.

"Introducing a private sector philosophy into the public service is a dangerous direction," she warned. Commenting on talk of efficiency levels, Baptiste said she believed that public officers ought to be exposed to relevant training programmes.

"The private sector hires personnel who are trained in different specialist areas and that is the focus we should adopt in the public service," she added.

"Yes, in terms of having people more service oriented…but certainly, the wholesale acceptance of a private sector-engined public service cannot work. The private sector is driven through the provision of goods and services at a price to make a profit. The Government departments have a responsibility to provide certain social services to the population. The desired results are different."

Her cellular phone rings in the middle of the conversation. As she stretched for the phone behind her, she predicted who was on the line. "Yes, Mr. Beharry. I am preparing to leave now…"

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