Former Caroni employees spent last Thursday and Friday, baking in the hot sun with  looks of anticipation and hope marking their faces.

They were invited to take part in an open-day registration session to help them train for new careers. But many doubted whether this  will be able to priovide them and their families with sustainble income. A few hundred  workers showed up to the seminars but left feeling like nothing was accomplished. Pooran Ramadine, an operator at the Usine refinery for the last 18 years said he came to the registration hoping to train to become an electrical technician. But he is doubtful this can ever happen. “A lot of us are not sure what is taking place. All we know is we need to get one of the registration forms to find out what our skills are and after the registration we need to visit the booths and see what is happening. All we know for sure is that it is a re-training exercise and we are not  guaranteed any jobs,” said Ramadine. He added that most of the people who were laid off were over the age of 40 and asking them to “go back to school” may be a bigger task than they can handle. “What we need are jobs. A guy who is 40 can’t be expected to retrain for a new career. He is nearing pension and retirement age, where is he going to get work at that age? This is only for younger people. Because they would have enough time to retrain and still get a good job later on,” said Ramadine. Almost every ex-worker held the same view. Many of the older men were walking around with disillusioned looks on their faces, saying”this is not for me.” A letter sent to the workers by Minister of Agriculture, John Rahael, sought to offer hope. “Today we have taken yet another step toward keeping this promise by hosting this instructive and empowering Open Day Registration Session designed with your goals in mind,” it said. 

According to the letter the career options presented to the ex-workers of Caroni have been guided by concerns sent to the Ministry. As a result, a two day registration and information process was set up at Gilbert Park, Couva, and Metal Industries Co Ltd, Usine St Madeleine for the workers to attend. There were about 14 booths set up by various training institutions like MIC, the National Army, HYPE, YTEPP, UWI, TTIT, the Ministry of Agriculture, Cipriani Labour College and the National Employment Service.But the ex-workers were not convinced that this plan would benefit them in finding jobs to feed their families. The Employers Consultative Association (ECA) were the organisers for the event. They handed out registration forms to all the ex-workers and assisted them in filling the forms out. They also provided financial counseling for those who were interested. “About 95 percent of the workers completed the registration forms for the different programmes. And we expect to have many more by the end of the day,” said a representative from the ECA. The workers visited each booth, where they were given  an idea of what each  offered and after to decide what programme is right for them. At the end of the day, the forms were taken to create a database and then hopefully place the workers, in the different institutions. Training is expected to start this month. But the former workers are not easily convinced. Premdass Mahadeo, 50, was a clerk at Usine. According to him, this is just a show put on by the Ministry to say they did something. He, like most of the other workers, came to the registration hoping to find job opportunities, but none presented itself. “I am  50 years old, I want to be able to retire one day. Now I have nothing to look forward too. I don’t know what to do,” said Mahadeo. But the younger ones were also skeptical about the Ministr’s efforts to provide alternative . They were indecisive about signing up, saying they had no guarantee that after the training program they would be offered jobs.

According to some, they will be competing with university graduates and they felt this task was too large for them to handle. “No one would hire a laid-off Caroni workers with a certificate over a university graduate in engineering,” said one worker. The workers also vented their dissatisfaction in the All Sugar and General Workers Trade Union, saying the union had  abandoned them.. “Although Caroni workers were laid off the unions are still getting their salaries every month. Up to now no trade union representative has come to Usine to sympathize with us,” said one worker. But the institutions represented had a different perspective. Many of them felt the ex-workers stood to benefit a lot from the workshop. Joan Superville, a lecturer at HYPE, said the institution was asked by the ECA to set up a booth for the workers to sign up. “So far we have had a good response. People showed a genuine interest in getting into the courses we offer,” said Superville. She said while she understood  the workers’ concerns,  most of the courses offered were developed for younger people. She added that because of this, HYPE, along with most of the other institutions will tailor courses to meet the needs of the ex-workers. “They were concerned about the course being full time, since many of them need to find a fast source of income, even with the training in progress. But when will ensure that the hours and venues can meet the needs of those interested,” said Superville. She said many of the workers asked if the institutions would be able to help them find jobs after the training period was over. However, she could not guarantee that jobs will be found for the workers. “We are not an employment agency or a placement agency we are a training agency,” she said bluntly.

Superville said it is very eye-opening to meet these ex-Caroni workers. Many of them  have been working for over thirty years and are not literate and this may be one of the factors dissuading them from applying for training. “I think there may be people who are scared about what is going to happen. They suddenly find themselves in a position where they cannot provide for themselves and their family and they are thrust into the general workforce again fighting others for jobs. This can make them set barriers for themselves, stopping them from even trying something new,” she said. However, she feels there is a genuine need for this type of workshop, so that the workers are aware they do have options. MIC was one of the other institutions represented and many of the workers flocked to this booth first because it is an institution they recognized Dawn Calendar, a placement officer for MIC said the ex-workers need to realize that they are walking around with a wealth of experience that companies would die to have.  However, she added, the problem may be in the salaries the workers are asking for. “A lot of company’s want Caroni workers because of the experience they have. But many will not choose to go because they want large salaries. So they should be thinking about adding training to their experience to better market themselves,” said Calendar. The most popular booths were MIC, HYPE, the army recruitment booth and UWI. But many of the older workers left without bothering to fill out a form. Other, however, took the chance and applied, hoping something good will come  out of it.

Car owners know all too well the headaches that go into cleaning and maintaining a vehicle. Sunday mornings are usually spent washing, polishing and vacuuming, trying to get out the finger-painted “wash me,” someone put on the windshield. 

Maintenance on a car can cost the owner about $200 a month, minus gas and oil changes, but this is an expense most are willing to put up with to constantly breathe new life into a depreciating asset. There is no shortage of car washers or auto body shops in the country. You could even pay the neighbour’s child $20 to throw a bucket of water at your vehicle if you wanted. So when a group of business people decide to start up a new auto body shop, to compete in an already saturated industry, eyebrows are sure to be raised. But the owners of Auto Laundry Ltd, are dead set on monopolising this market. Basheer Baksh, Zorinda Baksh, Imamuddin Baksh and Sharina Baksh, two couples, decided a few months ago, to go into business together to create what they call the “largest auto-body facility in the country,” and possibly the Caribbean. On August 1, Auto Laundry Ltd opened its doors to  Chaguanas and the surrounding areas, the company’s core target.

The directors of the company have a knowledge base most new companies would envy. Basheer has twenty years experience in mechanics and automotive maintenance, while Zorinda has a background in engineering and logistics. Imamuddin and Sharina both have over twelve years experience in advertising and print production. Starting this business was, for the team, an intricate plan. They invested over $300,000 into the facility to ensure they had up-to-date machinery able to handle the expected capacity. The company also spent a month training and preparing a staff of twenty workers to handle the equipment in the shop, and staff was also put through a week’s orientation, including dry runs, before the launch. With all these plans in place for Auto Laundry, the Bakshs are almost sure top shake things up in the  care business. They know the investment was sizable for a first time business, but according to Basheer: ”If you want people to take you seriously, then do it large enough for them to see the difference.”

Auto Laundry will be managed by Basheer Baksh, with the other three as directors. But how different is this company from all the other auto shop stations set up throughout the island? According to Basheer, Auto Laundry will fill all the gaps left by the other auto-body shops. “You don’t have to sit under a tree on a wooden bench to wait for your car anymore,” said Basheer.  The four partners did local and international research, and this combined it with their own experiences, is going to give them the edge.  What they found was a market made up of two extremes: automated car washes or facilities set up under people house. They wanted a modern facility where one could get a complete service – and not have to wait more than half an hour. And, if indeed, they did have to wait, they wanted to do so in comfort. This is what Auto Laundry intends to give car owners. Their first step was to partner with an international conglomerate within the industry to give Auto Laundry its credibility and edge. The partners choose 3M Worldwide, an interntional company known for its its cutting edge innovation.

This co-branding partnership will allow the company to place 3M on all their material like T-shirts, pens and letterheads. It will also ensure that only 3M products are used in the shop, so people know up front what is used on their vehicle. Apart from their relationship with 3M, Auto Laundry has also contracted a Scottish company, Excel Cleaners, to handle the supply, installation and maintenance of all their equipment. Excel also assisted in the design and structure of the “wax while you wash” system. Basheer thinks that vehicle owners do not get their money’s worth at other auto body shops. “This is from my own experience, I was never satisfied with what I got. And I have seen situations where people complained openly about the quality of car washes,” said Basheer. Auto Laundry, situated on Mulchan Seechan Road Chaguanas, will have an output capacity of 250-300 cars per day. The site has nine service bays set up, in a semi-circle, a row of ten vacuum cleaners and a separate facility for buffing and polishing. The vehicles will not only be washed, but waxed simultaneously. This means wax will be dispensed from the wash hose along with the water to give the vehicles a high gloss, “new look” finish.

To differentiate the company from your “under-the- mango-tree operation,” as Basheer put it, Auto Laundry has a strict procedure for ensuring efficiency and maintaining its forecasted turnover per day. The idea is that customers won’t have to wait more than half an hour, said Basheer. Once a car drives into the service bay, it will immediately be taken to a supervisor for a thorough check of the body to record any damage to the exterior of the car. A check list is then filled out detailing what the customer wants. He will then be given a copy of the job card while the car is taken to the detailing bay. The customer has access to his vehicle at all times, Basheer noted. While there, you can sit in a comfortable, air conditioned lounge, watch Cable TV and have access to vending machines, snack bars, coffee machines — and clean bathrooms. “The experience of having your car cleaned does not have to be torture,” Basheer insisted. The owners are adamant that their business will succeed. “The facility will be a stroke under an automated car wash,” said Basheer. He added that all the research done showed international companies were moving away from the drive-through car wash and back to the manual car wash, because of the damage done to car bodies and under-carriages.

Women negotiate every day, whether we realise it or not.  Mothers negotiate with their children over the eating of vegetables, women in the corporate world negotiate for the best possible deal on behalf of their companies, entrepreneurial women negotiate with clients, suppliers…the negotiations are endless. And women, because most of us are natural communicators, are blessed with above-average negotiating skills — once we’re not negotiating for ourselves. AFETT’s US-based affiliate organisation, The National Association of Female Executives (NAFE), recently completed a survey in which women were asked to rate their effectiveness in negotiating for salary.  The results were eye opening. Although women considered themselves competent and effective in their jobs, only 35% of respondents felt they negotiated well for themselves. “Negotiating for salary is a complicated issue for women,” says Dr. Deborah Cobb, co-author of Everyday Negotiation: Navigating the Hidden Agendas of Bargaining.  She believes that negotiations about money raise issues of self-worth that can get in the way of effective self-advocacy.

A sock and pencil story

Women, especially Carib-bean women, have been socialised to be polite, accommodating and of course, nice.  Nice means we don’t ruffle anyone’s feathers, don’t challenge the status quo.  There was a recently aired documentary in which young boys and girls and later, students at Columbia University, were tested to determine early socialisation attitudes and if these attitudes could affect earning power in later life. 

In one test, the boys and girls were asked to pick a present from a bin — anything they wanted.  The presents were beautifully wrapped in bright paper, some in huge boxes, some in smaller ones.  They each grabbed the outer wrapping that suited their fancy, but when the presents were opened, the children each got one sock and a pencil.  When the boys were asked what they thought of their gifts, the common reaction was an indignant “What am I supposed to do with a sock and a pencil?”  The girls, on the other hand, smiled prettily and graciously said, “Thank you…it’s lovely,” despite their obvious disappointment.  This over-extended effort to please is not so different when compared with female behaviour in the workplace.  If an offer was put on the table at a job interview or a contract negotiation, many of us (women) would smile and take it without question (whether or not we were satisfied), rather than view it as a jumping-off point for negotiations.
 
Be competitive just to stay in the race

Lara Quentrall-Thomas, Managing Director of Regency Recruitment, (the majority of their job candidates are women) explains it this way:  “Women are sometimes less clear about their career goals.  If you ask them where they want to be professionally, it’s evident that they are more open to options, more flexible.  They’re open to a wider salary range.  Men, on the other hand, are more specific – they want a certain position and they know what they expect to be paid for it.”   

Of course, the more qualified and experienced a woman is, the more secure she feels about making salary demands. Quentrall-Thomas maintains that professional women are doing a lot more study than their male counterparts. She feels that because women are generally resilient and adapt so well to change, they embrace the concept of lifetime learning.  Women are also keenly aware that they must remain competitive just to stay in the race – perhaps more so than men.  Smart women know what they’re worth and are unafraid to negotiate for it. But is that a guarantee that the smart woman gets what she wants?  Not always. Quite often, women don’t anticipate the surprises that inevitably pop up during the negotiation process.  Women need to be prepared for every eventuality — it’s what boys are taught in Boy Scouts — coincidence then, that men traditionally earn more than women?  Sometimes the glass ceiling may be to blame for the discrepancy in men and women’s salaries (in which case we need to ask ourselves whether a company that operates under that premise is right for us), but often men come out on top in salary negotiations because they understand how to handle the unexpected.  It is skill women can learn.

Women, do your homework

First, do your research.  Gather information.  You would do it if you were making a presentation or  selling an idea. So why not when negotiating a fair deal for yourself?  If you’re talking salary with your employer, find out what your predecessor was paid and what benefits she received.  Are you an entrepreneur negotiating for a project?  Find out the going industry rates.  You are not being unreasonable when you ask to be paid what you’re worth. There’s an excellent book by Don Miguel Ruiz called The Four Agreements, the first of which is “Don’t take anything personally.”  It makes sense if you think about it. People react to you in accordance with their issues and belief system, yet many of us tend to personalize things to such a degree that it immobilises us.  In business it is no different. The NAFE survey found that women had difficulty viewing negotiations as strictly business.  Especially if the process failed to yield the results they were hoping for, women took this as a personal affront – a message that they were not smart enough, competent enough, good enough.  This was a particularly common reaction among younger and even older women, whereas those in their 30s most tended to depersonalise results. 

When examining salary discrepancies between wom-en and their male counterparts, it is important to understand that career goals are more often than not, different for the two sexes.  Men tend to have a “show me the money” type of approach to remuneration packages, whereas women value other benefits such as flexibility, time off, an unbeatable health plan. Looking only at net salary may therefore not be an accurate reflection of the depth of the negotiation.  Quentrall-Thomas maintains that being well educated, well qualified in your field is the key bargaining chip in negotiating for yourself.  “While you shouldn’t accept less than you’re worth, you also need to be realistic — that means finding out what your peers are being paid so even if you’re not planning to leave your company, you can determine whether or not you’re being paid fairly for the work you do.”  In the end, though, the only thing that can truly determine negotiation success is how happy you are at the end of the day — if you feel properly compensated, valued, productive and eager to start the next day’s work.

Janine Mendes-Franco is a Communications Specialist and current President-Elect  of The Association of Female Executives for the year 2004- 2005

The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Guardian Life. You are invited to send your comments to guardianlife@ghl.co.tt