PSA Trinidad & Tobago

Originally known as the Civil Service Association (C.S.A.), this Union was formed during the period of colonial dominance.  At that time, the system in the Civil Service was an inherently unfair one, to say the least.  Heads of Departments had the authority to impose fines on their Officers; the opportunities for promotion were almost non-existent.  An Officer of the junior ranks could hardly aspire to anything above the Principal Officer category.

The system was plagued with other problems. Apart from poor working conditions, there was the question of racial discrimination.  If a Trinidadian did not belong to the French Creole Class, he/she could hardly ever aspire to anything above Junior Clerk.  Promotion also depended on the size and complexity of the department to which one was appointed.

In 1962 when it was decided that the minimum entry qualification into the Public Service should be the possession of a Cambridge School Certificate, at that time very few Trinidadians possessed this minimum qualification and therefore upward mobility was confined to just a few.

Individual protest was suicidal, collective action was beyond imagination, yet the initiative to correct a grave imbalance had to be taken.

It was a handful of men who pioneered the formation of the C.S.A., A.A. Thompson, E. Patience and J. Superville.  They were later joined by C. Worrell, W. Gilkes, John L. Smith, Miss Carr, H. Mc Clean, S. Knowles, H. Deeble, A. Ward, C. Knights, G. Stanford, W. Gocking and others.

John Lyon Smith in an interview with the Daily Mirror of September 28, 1964 said that the first department to organize itself was the Post Office where Thompson was stationed.  There was however agitation in other areas resulting in several caucus meetings being held.  Kitson in his unpublished Thesis of 1972 says that Thompson received assistance from Quinton O’Connor and Ralph Mentor who by that time were veterans in the trade union movement.  He also held the view that the legal advice given by C. Worrell from the Legal Department was of tremendous assistance in the early stages of the Association.

At a meeting of Civil Servants on Saturday November 19, 1938, it was resolved “that this representative body of Civil Servants here assembled are of the opinion that a Civil Service Association of the Colony of Trinidad and Tobago be immediately formed.” Eric Patience performed the duties of temporary Secretary of a Provisional committee until December 19, 1938 when a formal constitution was adopted and elections held for the first officers and members of the Executive of the C.S.A., Mr. John Lyon Smith – President; Mr. A.A. Thompson – Vice President; Miss Carr – Lady Vice President; Mr. Eric Patience – Secretary - Mr. George Stanford – Assistant Secretary.

There had been some resistance and some resentment towards the formation of the Association and an acute reluctance to recognition.  But the greatest measure of resentment came not from the colonial bosses but from the French Creole element in the population.

In February 3, 1939, the Colonial Secretary conveyed to the Association that recognition could be afforded after it registered as a Trade Union.  On March 25, 1939, the C.S.A. was certified as a Trade Union and a few days later official recognition was granted.  This recognition however, was limited to representations regarding its members in the course of their employment and excluded trade union activity in matters external to it.

John Lyon Ludovic Smith, Clerk of the Peace in the Magistracy, at the age of 53 became the first President of the C.S.A.  He joined the Service in 1907 and brought some 30 years experience to the Association.  It was not common for persons holding similar positions to accept such responsibilities.

The relative ease with which recognition was granted could have been influenced by the Commissions of Inquiry into the disturbances of 1937 one of which found that "the absence of any means of Collective Bargaining, the measure of labour's well-being and contentment depended on the manner in which goodwill was exercised". It added in another part "it can safely be said that prior to the outbreak of violence in 1937 employers generally had been slow to realize the importance of the development of machinery for Conciliation or Collective Bargaining on modern-times,"

Further co-operation from the Colonial Government was seen in 1941 when Civil Servants were granted protection from threats of victimisation resulting from activities in the Association.

The rules were amended to facilitate the formation of Sections which were expected to work alongside the Branches. Groups of workers of the same classification were encouraged to form sections e.g. Postmen, Health Inspectors, Druggists etc. Still, the lull in activity continued and nothing dramatic was ventured, nothing worthwhile was gained. Up to this time the Association had failed to attract Civil Servants of the upper ranks. In fact, the rules had carefully excluded Heads of Department since it was felt that their membership in the Association would spell conflict of interest with their Civil Service positions.

But there were in fact senior Civil Servants who had their heart in the Association. One such person was C.T.W.E. Worrell, Crown Councilor. In 1941 following an amendment to the Rules to open membership to Heads of Department, Worrell accepted the Presidency of the Association. At the same annual general meeting A.A. Thompson was elected as Secretary.

Amendment to the Rules which resulted in several senior Civil Servants joining the Association had the desired effect of increasing the number of members from among the junior ranks. Mr. Cecil Theophilus Wilfred Edward Worrel up to 1941 was the most senior Civil Servant to join the C.S.A. He brought a wealth of knowledge to the Association having acted as Solicitor General on several occasions and on two occasions 1938 and 1940 served as a temporary member of the Legislative Council.

Worrel died in 1950. The loss of such a resourceful man, together with the increase in membership, prompted the Association's decision to appoint a full-time officer of the union. O.E. Morle was appointed to serve as the first full time secretary of the Associaton in 1951.

In April, 1960, plagued with problems, the Association appointed a Sub Committee of eleven to review the Constitution of the Association. Among the members of this Committee were L.O. Weekes, O.E. Morle, J.I.A. Manswell and S.A. Martin. The basis of the new Constitution was a memorandum submitted by J.I.A. Manswell.

On the eve of change in 1960, James Isaac Alexander Manswell became the Deputy General Secretary. His career as a Civil Servant had begun some thirteen years before as a Clerk at the Port-of-Spain Magistracy. His long career as a trade unionists also had its roots there. He, like several other young Civil Servants was dissatisfied with the running of the Association. Proposals for change met with strong resistance from the 'old guard'.

Membership participation at this time had been poor so much so, that when memoranda was invited for a new constitution, the only other memorandum received (apart from Mr. Manswell's) was from the San Fernando Branch. It is no surprise then that Manswell's proposals were almost fully accepted.

Regarding the problem, as he saw it, of the 'domination' of the Association by the Clerical Officers  Section, Manswell proposed in part that "the Sections would be responsible for electing section representatives on the Executive Commiftee of the Association, members of the Council of Delegates based on the number of members in the section, officers and members of the Management Committee of the Section". He also proposed that "each Section could be described as a bargaining unit.

In May 1961, a special Council of Delegates Meeting was held to adopt the new Rules and constitution. It was hoped that this would herald a new democracy in the Association where Messenger and Administrative Officer would sit side by side with equal rights, regardless of their numerical strength. There was to be no further domination by any one section.

Later, during the same year, Manswell replaced Morle as General Secretary of the Association, an event which might not have come as any great surprise to the active membership, having regard to his input into the drafting of the new Rules.

However in the early 1980's there was a groundswell call for a change in the Constitution of the PSA to provide for greater democracy - One Man One Vote. The Call was for the Democratisation of the PSA.

This call for change was co-ordinated by Kenny Turner, Reynold Guppy (both deceased) and Michael Farrell, all Public Health Inspectors attached to the Port of Spain City Corporation. The Constitutional change to provide the One Man One Vote system came in 1980. For the first time in its history the PSA conducted the 1st National Elections in November, 1981. The Results saw the emergence of the "Forward Democratic Alliance" led by Mr. Kenny Turner. Unfortunately 'Kenny' as he was called had not been permitted to contest the Elections as Membership Dues on his behalf were not being paid to the Association though deducted from his salary. His dues were paid to the Public Services Association Credit Union unknown to him..

In 1981 therefore Manswell emerged unopposed as the Ist Executive President of the PSA under the new One Man One Vote Constitution.

Subsequently, upon the retirement of Mr. Manswell very early in the term, the Presidency was passed to Mr. Kenny Turner in 1981. Following Mr. Turner's death in 1982, Mr. Arnim Greaves became the Ag. President.

The Presidency was passed to Mr Kenny Turner in 1981. Following Mr Turner's death in 1982 Mr Arnim Greaves became the Ag. President.

In 1983 Dr. Kenrick Rennie assumed the Presidency until his death in December, 1992. Mr Roland Graham the then 1st Vice President became the Ag. President up to November 1993 when Mr Clyde Weatherhead won the Elections under the "Progressives Banner" with the assistance of Sis. Jennifer Baptiste-Primus who successfully contested the position of Secretary Treasurer having served as the first female Deputy Secretary Treasurer thus ending a twelve year reign of the Forward Democratic Alliance.

In November 1997 the PSA experienced another fundamental change in the leadership. For the first time since the introduction of the One Man One Vote a woman dared to challenge the Executive Presidency.

Ms. Jennifer Baptiste fought the 1997 PSA National Elections under "The REFORMERS " and won with a convincing mandate.

Ms. Baptiste was the first female Deputy Secretary Treasurer appointed in 1991 and Secretary Treasurer elected in November 1993. Now the indomitable Ms. Baptiste assumed the Presidency on the 27th November, 1997 for a four year period and was reelected in 2001 and 2005 to the position of President.