- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 29/Aug 05:30

PSA head: Contract work is slavery

FELISHA Thomas, President of the Public Services Association (PSA), keenly welcomed news that contractual terms and conditions of employment ("contract employment") will be removed from the Public Service, talking to Newsday on August 28. She gave her response to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's announcement the day before at a Penal event that the Public Service had thousands of permanent jobs to be filled, even as she sought to end contract employment which she said was both costly to the state and harsh on the employee. Persad-Bissessar had said, "You have no security of tenure, you cannot get a loan, you cannot get a mortgage, you cannot leverage your job. You could be sent home at any time." Thomas welcomed the elimination of contract work. "That is exactly in alignment with the PSA's position, where decent work is concerned. "We have always said contract work is not equal to decent work." She said the PSA had called on the past administration to make workers permanent so they could plan their lives. "On a contract you are not able to plan your life. You can't approach any financial institution to purchase a home, so you are just left in a state of wondering what is next." Recalling the PSA's insights into several state organisations, she declared, "Contract work is a form of slavery." "Therefore we endorse and we support the position of the prime minister that contract work must be eliminated from the work environment. "Workers must be made permanent, so they can plan their lives." Newsday asked if she was confident that people now in contract posts would actually get permanent positions, especially against the backdrop of the opposition suggesting the government had no money. Thomas, who campained for the UNC during the lead-up to the April 28 general election, firstly replied that if the government had no money, that was the fault of the former government. She then said the PM had promised to find money. "They will engage in activities that will bring revenue back to this country." Thomas was confident the government would be in a position to provide permanent jobs equivalent to the contract jobs. "Absolutely. They have not spoken about eliminating jobs. The jobs exist. "What they have spoken about is making those jobs permanent. That is the critical part we must note." She repeated that the PM had not spoken about eliminating jobs. "The PM has spoken about giving persons decent jobs which are permanent jobs." Was Thomas concerned about any interim hardships in a transition period from contract posts to permanent jobs, such as now faced by Cepep workers awaiting the organisation's evaluation? Thomas said, "There are thousands of contract jobs existing within the Public Service, while there are thousands of vacancies existing within the Public Service. "What would be required is for persons to apply for the jobs and move into those jobs. Likewise there are several organisations that have created contract positions. "All those organisations are required to do is to take those positions to cabinet for cabinet approval to make those positions pensionable. In that case nobody loses their job. They are just made permanent." Thomas said contract employment had been used to abuse and victimise workers, who could not say no to unreasonable demands for fear of job loss. She recalled some workers being kept on contract for periods as long as 10, 15 or 20 years. In this, they had no entitlement to vacation leave or sick leave, Thomas lamented. "It has been used as a form of slavery." Thomas alleged the proliferation of contract jobs in the Public Service over the years has been done by design, as a lot of Public Service positions had been left vacant. "When you hear the public complaining about the service that they receive in certain areas, it is because the Public Service is lacking human resources in many of those areas. They don't have people to execute the jobs." She referred to the Board of Inland Revenue and the Customs and Excise Division, which the former government had sought to amalgamate into a revenue authority. "They talk about the shortfall in revenue collection, but you have not filled the positions of revenue officers or persons to collect the revenue for the country." This poor staffing could result in a shortfall of revenue collected, she said. She said the design of this set-up had let past administrations "spin a narrative of inefficiency" and of a supposed need for some new structure in the form of a new authority. "When they form these authorities what they do is offer contract jobs. "It is not about improving the service to the population. It is about controlling those who carry out the services to the population." The post PSA head: Contract work is slavery appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.