P.S.U. and A.P.S.S.M. Defend Approach to Negotiation

Sharon Frazer

The B.N.T.U.’s representatives rushed out of the Biltmore to their meeting without speaking to the press. However, the heads of the Public Service Union and Association of Public Service Senior Managers briefed the press for the first time as the other two-thirds of the Joint Union Negotiating Team. Both unions have promised to begin consulting their members by the end of the day. At this time, they appear to be in support of the proposals. But, has their insistence on sticking with negotiations strained their relations with the more militant B.N.T.U.? And exactly where do they stand at this time on the good governance issue? We hear from both union presidents: Eldred Neal and Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer, respectively.

Sharon Frazer, President, Association of Public Service Senior Managers

“We have; we have been showing solidarity. If you notice, the fact that we haven’t been out there is being responsible, behaving responsible. As I said, we don’t have an industrial dispute, and strike is the last resort. In addition to that we are still negotiating; in fact, today is a reflection of the fact that we are still negotiating. So that we were for the deferral; if it is that we were not, maybe it would have given us the drive to go towards industrial action, but we are not there. So people need to understand and respect the position that P.S.U. and A.P.S.S.M. have taken. We have always supported, we have come here supporting; I want to let the public know that for one year we have been supporting the very Proposal Twenty-Two. It’s not our proposal, but we have been fighting for it. Maybe it is they don’t know this, but this is the opportunity I want to let them know that that is the only proposal for over a year, that myself [and] my brother President have been fighting along with B.N.T.U. for. So we have been supportive, we continue to support; we want all the good governance issues. I can tell you for a fact that it has been on T.U.C. table for the longest while; and so that we have been a part of that process; it’s just that maybe at some point somebody dropped the ball, and B.N.T.U. picked it up.”

Eldred Neal

Eldred Neal, President, Public Service Union

“I am hoping that it may come to a close today, and my hoping is on the high side of hopeful, solely because I think the idea of us not being with them has gone on too long, and because we are back at the negotiating table where we never left I hope today’s meeting should bring us to that point, and bring the strike action to a close.”