Did PM’s Address Drive a Wedge between Union Leaders and Members?

The logjam between the unions and government persists as the longest strike on record since the eleven-day industrial action taken by teachers in 2016.  On Thursday, Prime Minister John Briceño addressed the nation in a prepared statement during which he presented his administration’s latest position without first meeting with the unions.   This morning on Channel Five’s “Open Your Eyes,” Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser, President of the Association of Public Service Senior Managers, weighed in on the effect the PM’s latest message has had on the membership of that organization.

Sharon Fraser

Sharon Fraser, President, A.P.S.S.M.

“We received a letter of government’s undertaking with various things that they have committed to.  While the letter was sent to the three of us by the Cabinet Secretary, we are of the view that it was addressed to the country and the world.  In fact, this information was put out there before any of us had an opportunity to look at it, to share it with members to be able to get a sense of where they were or would have been prior to the meeting that we had on Thursday.  So that, I can say for me, I didn’t even get a chance to read it when in fact the Prime Minister was on the air talking about what was in there, so that I would have had no opportunity to speak to my members and at the end of the day, I had said to them, “Well, what can I say?  The Prime Minister had said it all.”  I think this might have upset some members because the feeling was that if there was a joint team that was meeting with the ministers in this matter and yet while I cannot say it wasn’t sent to us, what I can say is that at least for me, everybody else would have heard it. I guess maybe the same time or even before me, who has been sitting around the table, who has been trying to get the members who I represent to accept  or at least go along with whatever proposals that have been put to us.”