P.S.U. Withdraws “Election Go-Slow” Threat, Calls for No Retrenchment

The Public Service Union is calling on thousands of public officers to wake up the sleeping giant and fight any government that attempts to fire public officers to reduce the wage bill.  After years of being dormant, the beast of the P.S.U. has begun mobilizing after U.D.P. Leader Patrick Faber and P.U.P. Leader John Briceño answered a question about the mammoth wage bill and the possibility of retrenchment.  Both leaders said it would be challenging times after the elections, but the P.S.U. is on the move to secure its members.  President Gerald Henry has written to the political leaders asking for a meeting to discuss the ballooning wage bill, which stands at six hundred and eighty-eight million dollars for sixteen thousand public officers and teachers.  Henry says that whichever party forms the next government, government wastage needs to be minimized before public officers are targeted.  He says that the first move by a new government should be to terminate contract officers who make up a significant portion of the wage bill. The P.S.U. had first threatened a go slow on election day, but that threat has been withdrawn.

Gerald Henry

Gerald Henry, President, P.S.U.

“We also have an issue with the contract officers because they of course also impact on the wage bill. They get paid from the public purse. Again the Ministry of Finance has refused to give us a copy or a list of those contract officers. One list that we have received we recognized immediately that it was incorrect because we had identified that two persons in particular who we know about, who work at the office of the Auditor General were not on that list. So we know for a fact that they were not providing us with an accurate list of contract officers. So those are the main things that we want to ensure those things get done first before looking at what we consider being the easy way out all the time. Public officers are the ones who are sacrifices in order for these politicians and their friends and company to continue enjoying the sweets and the fats. Those are the things that we want to ensure get done first.”

Hipolito Novelo

“The Public Service is demanding that all current leaders who are aspiring to be the next prime minister to sit around the table and discuss retrenchment. There is the flyer no retrenchment discussion, no election conduction. What does that mean because it seems to be a threat to hold the government hostage and essentially the election hostage if you saying public services would not conduct the elections. I understand that that decision has been withdrawn but the question now is, why now? Why wait until it is election season to act on these demands that have been there for some years now?”

Gerald Henry

“Well, I think the thing is it is a premise that the best time to strike is when the iron is hot. That is what they say. This is simply a situation we find ourselves, or we believe we should have the upper hand.”