Gonzalez says there is no misappropriation of funds

James McFoy

According to McFoy, members of the union cannot call a congress without the consent of the general council.  Furthermore, McFoy says that they absented themselves from a recent meeting to allow the council to make an impartial decision on the way forward.  That decision has resulted in the suggestion to postpone the congress until February of next year. And according to Gonzalez, there is no misappropriation of funds.

James McFoy, General Secretary, CWU

“A meeting was being held last week Friday, Saturday sorry, in which the general council which comprises members from all over the affiliate areas to determine whether we’d be able to have this meeting on the twenty-sixth.  The reason for that was to gather the financial structure of the union, whether it would be feasible to have a congress on that date or what would be the next step.  We were not at the meeting.  Mr. Gonzalez and myself were not at the meeting and the council, the general council had agreed which includes the two stevedores, had agreed to have the meeting postponed to February 2014.  Lo and behold on Monday I heard the news whereby the Amandala and Krem News interviewed Pitter and Rivers and they are saying now, “we will stick to the twenty-sixth of October” after they had already agreed.  As a matter of fact, for information, one of them were elected trustees, one of the trustees, and they came back now with a flip flop and said, “oh, we’re going back to the twenty-sixth.”  Now, as far as we see it, if the meeting is not called by the executives of the union then that meeting will be null and void because the constitution states what you have to do to call a meeting or for a meeting to be held. We cannot stop the meeting from going on but legitimacy of the meeting will be an issue.  We cannot even stop N.T.U.C.B. from expelling us.  They can do that.  We have no problem with that.  You could expel us but we are looking at the legitimacy of the meeting itself because two people cannot call a congress.  And they are not even executives; they are members of the union.  So that is our position on that.”