Women cannot be denied employment due to gender

THE EDITOR: Ironic, isn’t it, how in the very same week that we applaud the appointment of a woman to the Ministry of Finance, that the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Orville London orders an investigation into the denial of work by a qualified, female plumber on a Government contract in Tobago.

The Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT) wishes to commend Mr London on his decision, and even more so on his statement, that the only benchmark for employment should be “capacity, attitude and qualification, not gender”. The fact is there has been an enormous change in the pattern of women’s employment over the last two decades. Yet even women have increased their levels of education and gained professional qualifications, this has not been reflected in women being proportionally represented at the highest levels of management and, as it now seems in the non traditional fields like plumbing. AFETT suspects that the issue with the professional female plumber is really one of adjustment. Plumbing is traditionally a male dominated field, and as such, London may well discover that there were emotional reasons behind the “boss man’s” decision not to hire the female plumber.

The official word on the appointment of Christine Sahadeo as Minister in the Ministry of Finance is as important as the outcome of London’s probe. The introduction of a Government policy to end any type of gender discrimination in the workplace — not to mention on a government contract — may not be as dramatic an event as constitutional change, or as front page newsworthy as a highway accident, but a good policy to which the Government is genuinely committed has great value. It can lead quickly to widespread, concrete changes if for example, it specifies real “budget” allocations for women’s issues, or if representation at decision-making levels is increased given their qualifications, or if it states categorically that no woman can be denied employment on the basis of gender. We are heartened by Mr London’s response.

KATHLEEN MAYNARD
The Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago