THE EDITOR: I have noted with alarm the decision by Watson Duke to continue in the role of president of the PSA while performing the duties of Deputy Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).
That situation is absolutely untenable. Nonetheless, I am not going to address the legal ramifications of such a decision, but simply approach it from a practical point of view.
No matter how intelligent, resourceful, talented, creative or gifted, one individual cannot effectively and efficiently discharge the functions/duties of two full-time jobs. In the instant case, this is compounded by the nature of those jobs. In this regard any practitioner in industrial relations can attest to the very long hours and unscheduled demands of any job in that field, not to mention the position of president of a major trade union.
The same is true of the THA. I dare say that the Progressive Democratic Patriots (DP) would want to hit the ground running as it deals with the numerous challenges facing Tobagonians, especially health and economic challenges, in the midst of the covid19 pandemic.
It is also, in my view, entirely unnecessary for Duke to be involved in those two activities at the same time.
The PSA has an executive and on it there is an incumbent first vice president who should be competent enough to take control of the reins of the association now that Duke has been elevated to Deputy Chief Secretary at the THA.
I note that the first vice president is a woman. Is it that Duke believes she is incompetent and the PSA is better off without her as its president and therefore he has to rescue the executive, although he has limited time to handle union business at the PSA's headquarters in Trinidad as he is employed full-time in Tobago at the THA?
Anyone who has worked in the professional/technical areas of operations at the supervisory or top leadership positions in either the public or private sector would know that after they are no longer employed with the organisation, either through retirement or otherwise, once the departure was amicable they still provide informal mentorship to their successor, occasionally.
The successor might seek the advice and recommendation of the mentor on a particular matter, or the mentor might have observed a report in the news media and offered unsolicited advice to his successor. But this activity is not time-consuming as the legwork, final decision-making and responsibility would be a matter for the current office holder and not the mentor/predecessor.
Similarly, the Chief Secretary, in effect, would be demonstrating a stupefying lack of confidence in the other members of his THA team if he allows Duke to perform full-time duties at the PSA while serving as Deputy Chief Secretary of the THA. Who really is in charge of the THA, Duke or Farley Augustine? Duke is not indispensable to the executive of the THA, as Augustine has 15 other people from whom to choose, excluding himself.
That state of affai
