PSA Boss: We are operating legally

PSA President Jennifer Baptiste-Primus said yesterday that the union received legal advice which says that its continued representation of public health workers once they transfer to the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs), is not unconstitutional. The PSA president further indicated that the union was willing to  allow the Medical Professionals Association of TT (MPATT) the chance to represent workers in the RHAs in areas that are not covered by the RHA Amendment Bill 2004. Health Minister John Rahael piloted the bill on March 5, 2004 in the House of Representatives and indicated that the legislation would eliminate the dual system of reporting in the health system (RHA and public service) which has been in existence since the birth of the RHAs in 1994.

The bill was passed by the Lower House on the same date but never became law after the Opposition UNC and MPATT claimed a clause in the legislation, which allowed the PSA to continue to represent public health workers in the RHAs, was unconstitutional. At a December 22 news conference at his Port-of-Spain office, Rahael said eliminating the duplication of services in the health sector would be one of his ministry’s top priorities for 2006. Baptiste-Primus told Newsday that the union has since received legal advice that the claims made by the Opposition and MPATT are baseless and there is nothing to debar the Government from proceeding to amend the existing RHA Act to allow the union to continue representing public health workers should they decide to transfer to the RHAs.

She added that if MPATT had applied to represent RHA medical personnel in certain areas, the PSA was willing to let them do so and this would be reflected in amendments to the RHA 1994 Act. Baptiste-Primus said a copy of the union’s legal advice has been forwarded to Rahael via the Health Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Reynold Cooper. The PSA president dismissed claims from MPATT president Dr Chunilal Ramjit that public service doctors were unhappy with the voluntary separation of employment packages (VSEP) being offered to them to transfer to the RHAs. MPATT vice president Dr Rajendra Persad claimed that public service doctors were unhappy that they would not be receiving the new salaries approved in November for senior doctors in the RHAs and were in the dark about the VSEP.

Baptiste-Primus said the union has reached a fundamental agreement with the Chief Personnel Officer and the Health Ministry to give public health workers the options of transfer to the RHAs, secondment to the RHAs and remaining in the public service, in addition to VSEP. She added that the first three options were contained in the existing RHA Act and the PSA saw this as a victory after 11 years of struggle. The PSA president said clarification meetings have been  ongoing to work out the logistics of transferring public health workers to the RHAs and another such meeting will be held sometime next month.