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This evening, told us that they will have to hold a bi-election, so that a new president can be elected:

Jacqueline Willoughby - Acting President, NTUCB
"I think it was a serious oversight on the part of the players in terms of who ran the last time. The constitution indicates that once you have served 2 consecutive times on the executive committee who cannot be re-elected. It may have been an oversight on the part of brother Mora and others there to not have remembered that he actually ran already and that just caused him to, well his post immediately became unlawful. The constitution indicates that you have within 2 months to receive a letter and within the 3 months there should be a bi-election. So you can call it a "mini AGM" not to the extent and grandeur that the last one was held but sufficiently enough to have a president elected. this would start by the process of writing a letter which has already been done and the executive committee going through the necessary documents that need to be submitted and then recommending to the GC for a date to be set. I am hoping that this would be sometime in February. It's quite possible an easy to set up."

So, will Willoughby, offer herself for president in the bi-election? And if yes, what will her leadership look like? As we told you, she had been away studying law, and just last week, she was called to the Bar.

But while she was away studying, she was critical of Audrey Matura-Shepherd, who was the then 2nd Vice President of the NTUCB. That's when Matura-Shepherd was pressing for Ray Davis to resign or be removed from his post as the Senator for Labour and Civil Society.

We asked Willoughby if her hard nosed style could hurt rather than help the unity of NTUCB.

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"You find yourself, which may not have been the plan in the seat of the leadership though temporary. Will you seek to make it a permanent thing for the next 2 years?"

Jacqueline Willoughby - Acting President, NTUCB
"I will see what Jesus has to say about that first, but know this, whether or not I run for president my full intention is to bring together back the workers of this country that is the purpose of the congress. My determination of whether or not I will run, I will pray about that first."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Do you aspire for the leadership of the NTUCB given your experience and maybe you may have great plans for how to improve the NTUCB and isn't the law of the constitution at this current moment at the way it is worded, doesn't that restrict you?"

Jacqueline Willoughby - Acting President, NTUCB
"It doesn't restrict me from running as president. what it may restrict me from is, I'm now elected the first vice if I decide to vie for the title it will mean if I win I will be the president and if I decide to go for a second term it will simply mean I have 2 terms and I will not be able to get a third term. In terms of getting the work done and moving the congress forward. The congress is a team. The congress is not Jacqueline Willoughby, it is not brother Mora. It is a team. We must come together. So whether or not I am the first vice president, I still have sufficient to put into the work for us to get the work as where we need them to get."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Do you intend to make it difficult for them to work with you? How do you intend to best use your talents and experience to enhance rather than deter the work of the NTUCB?"

Jacqueline Willoughby - Acting President, NTUCB
"I'm not sure if you are preamble as anything to do with your body, but let me clear up 2 issues. I am a trade unionist, my heart is for justice and fairness for workers that is who I am. As long as there are workers in this country and I get an agenda from the good Lord I will continue to serve. It doesn't matter who it is, it could be you Daniel, If you say the wrong thing I'll be the first to correct you. It's never personal. It is business and the problem we have in this country not only in the trade union movement, we are too quick to judge people without first learning what mortar they are made of. In terms of moving the congress forward a reeducation has to happen. There are a lot of fresh new faces which I love. I love the idea of newness and freshness in the congress. A part of my suggestion and contribution will certainly be to reeducate and to strengthen where we need to be strengthen. We are not the public service union, or the water service union, we are the National Trade Union Congress. We are affiliates of one umbrella organization. So it's not a singular move, Jacqueline Willoughby will not do it by herself. It will be a general council moving forward."

So, what about the critics who say that the NTUCB has gone soft? When we asked Willoughby about that she disagreed, saying that the union has its internal problems, but the trade union movement is alive and well:

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"We have seen instances where the NTUCB is openly criticized for having gone soft. Three is accusations of being infiltrated by the government. How do you and if you are the not the president, the person who will sit in that position work towards restoring confidence in the core membership that you are looking after their interest first?"

Jacqueline Willoughby - Acting President, NTUCB
"Infiltration by the government? I think that's an accusation that will never go dead. We live in a society where people judge by actions, but a lot of work goes into the background, policies are influenced even today by the congress. A lot of what you see come out is influence by its affiliates. But clearly people at this place where they think that people just jump up and run but emotional strikes, emotional strikes don't win anything. Whereas the workers as concerned we have got to put all hands on deck. I can assure you the congress is not infiltrated. I can further assure you that the tenacity with which it fights for workers is still there. There is no cause at this moment for us to jump up out there. People need to understand that when we get to the place of an industrial action it is because all talking, all negotiations has failed. We have not gotten to that place yet like any other organization. The congress goes through its internal wronging's not sufficient to call it dead because it's certainly not dead nor dormant."

So, for the next 3 months, Willoughby will serve as the Acting President while the union prepares for a bi-election.