Me and my trailer

KELLY TAN, CONTAINER HANDLING SPECIALIST, PSA CORP SINGAPORE

By Cindy Koh

It is almost 10 pm. While most Singaporeans are watching the news or some soap opera on television, Kelly Tan puts on her jeans and T–shirt and gets ready for work. She hurries her two young sons to bed and bids her husband goodbye.

“See you tomorrow, dear,” she says and then makes her way to the world’s largest container transshipment port.

Her mobile office is a double-stack trailer, which can carry two 40-footer or four 20-footer containers.

“This is my second home,” the 33 year-old PSA Corp container handling specialist points out with a tinge of pride. For more than 10 years, Kelly drifted from one job to another – hawker, clerk, travel agent and the list goes on. But finally, she has found what she is looking for.

“This is a dream job for me,” she says. “I am challenged and in control. When I am in the trailer, I just focus on doing my job well, with the help of the computer,” she taps on the high-tech screen located near the steering wheel.

Four years ago when she first set foot at the port, Kelly was skeptical about the job. “I saw men and more men and I got scared and extremely nervous. I hardly drove then and there I was, learning how to control a huge trailer, I instantly had second thoughts,” she recalls with a laugh.

Six months into the job, Kelly moved from driving a single-stack trailer to the current double-stack trailer. As for her predominantly male colleagues, they are now her best of friends. “We hang out either before or after work for roti prata (an Indian pan cake eaten with curry) or ice kachang (a popular desert of crushed ice and syrup). It all depends on our shift for the day.”

Kelly works on a rotating three-shift roster. Today, she is on the third shift – 22:30 to 07:00. Her working hours are 07:00 to 15:00 if she is required to work on first shift and 15:00 to 22.30 if on the second shift. While others may find the work schedule disruptive to their social life, Kelly treats it as all in a day’s work.

She reasons: “We have to move with the demands. I have no qualms about working on Sundays or public holidays. I have a job and I don’t take that for granted, especially in the present economic situation.”

She hopes soon to be a container equipments specialist, two grades up from her present job.

Fortunately, Kelly’s husband, a salesman, and her two sons, seven and 10 years old, are used to her shift work. They also strongly support Kelly’s work as an active leader at the Singapore Port Workers Union (SPWU), the oldest registered union in Singapore, with 2000 members. Kelly has just completed her three-year term as a delegate and in January 2003, she was re-elected for another new term. She also serves in the SPWU Social and Activity Committee and Welfare Committee.

“ I wanted to be a union leader because I want to speak out and be the voice for my fellow colleagues. I wanted to make a difference in my workplace and in the lives of my co-workers,” Kelly explains.

After three years as a delegate, she finds herself more aware of the ever-changing global economic situation and the need to stay competitive. “I did not understand at first why the union is always asking us to upgrade our skills and go for training. Now as a union delegate I realise the importance of training and retraining. I have learned so much from the experienced union leaders and from attending leadership training courses on communication, on how to resolve work–related issues and about workers’ rights and responsibilities and more. It opened up a whole new world for me.”

To Kelly, the satisfaction she gets from helping union members resolve work–related issues makes the time she spends on volunteer work worthwhile. “Some people say that being a union leader is a thankless job. I’m ok with it. I’ll do my best and that’s all that matters to me.”

Cindy Koh is editor and publisher of SPWU’s quaterly newsletter.

Bread, butter and chicken soup

K. SREEKUMAR, SUPERVISOR AND UNION ACTIVIST, CHENNAI PORT, SOUTH INDIA

By Sangam Tripathy

For K. Sreekumar, a supervisor in the iron ore handling section of Chennai port in South India, a typical working day could be as long as 16 hours. “This has been a routine for the last four to five years as I try to combine my work and union responsibilities,” he explains.

Sreekumar is the Joint Secretary of Madras Port Trust Employees Union, the most representative organisation of the 8,000 odd employees of Chennai Port. He chuckles saying, “My job in the port gives me bread and butter and the union work is chicken soup for my soul.”

He works different shifts during the month. For 10 days its usually 06:00 to 14:00 plus four hours overtime to oversee operational work and attend to needs at the iron ore handling plant. For 10 other days he works in the night shift, which could be from 18:00 or 22:00 to 06:00, depending whether he is required to work overtime.

On days when there is no ship in the berth, he works the general shift from 07:30 to 17:00. The entire operation from the reclaimer to the conveyer belt and the ship loader has to be kept running at the time of loading iron ore. “Yet problems like snags in the gear box, the belt snapping and other mechanical breakdowns happen and have to be rectified immediately,” Sreekumar is one of the 85 supervisors in the section, which employs 475 employees. Revenue from this section alone contributes to almost 30 per cent of the port income.

By the time he is ready to leave the port at 18:00, his pocket is full of notes about the problems and grievances he has heard from the members of the union. A short ride on the bike, a quick cup of strong coffee at the union office and Sreekumar signals to the waiting workers to come over.

For the next two to three hours, arguments and verbal exchanges range and ring in the room in rising and falling decibels, as workers problems and grievances are hotly discussed.

Occasionally Sreekumar’s mobile rings and he is heard telling his wife Asha that he might be late. Finally a 15 km ride on his bike takes him home at around 10 pm, or some nights later.

Lakshmi Zaanjna, his 11 year-old daughter, runs out to welcome Papa, and say good night before going off to sleep. “Sometimes I have to sit down and help her out with drawings, charts and other school assignments, and that may take up to two or three hours. But then it’s fun,” says Sreekumar.

Sreekumar was appointed in the port in 1984 as a special mechanic, following a call from the employment exchange where he had registered after completing his diploma in mechanical engineering. Within eight years he got promoted to Supervisor Grade II, and two years after that to Supervisor Grade I, his present post. “I was lucky to get promotions as there were vacancies then,” he says, and adds that today there are over 50 people in his section with over 11 years of service and still working as special mechanics.”

Ever since the government adopted port restructuring measures 10 years ago, many posts have been abolished and workers strength reduced drastically, from 15,000 in 1984 to 8,000 today in Chennai port and the process is still going on.

For the last two years, Sreekumar has been actively involved in the ITF’s flag of convenience campaign. There are occasions now, when he spends large parts of his day visiting a ship targeted for action by the ITF Delhi Office, or talking to seafarers who come searching for him because they know his union is an ITF affiliate.

“Last year, after hearing the plight of 19 Indonesian seafarers on board mv Topaz which had berthed in our port, I was determined to help them, come what may,” says Sreekumar. He got the seafarers together, took them to a lawyer and helped file a case for unpaid wages. Within three days the crew were flying back home with US$98,750 back pay paid by the vessel owner.

How does he see the future? Sreekumar takes a long deep breath and worry lines appear on his forehead.

“Alas, the future appears quite grim. Job losses, increasing privatisation and an increase in unprotected, non-union jobs, these are all dangerous trends. There is a proposal for my own workplace, the ore-handling plant, to be shifted out to Ennore port, and the land and the berth to be given to P&O as per the agreement signed with them.” At the age of 43, Sreekumar is not sure, if and when this happens, whether he will get employment at Ennore or whether P&O will retain his job and for what wage?

The union clock chimes. It’s 10.30 pm and Sreekumar’s mobile rings. He apologises to his wife and promises to be home in the next 30 minutes.

Sangam Tripathy is Education Coordinator at the ITF Asia Sub-Regional office in New Delhi, India.