PSU Executive, members heading for clash

The Executive of the Public Service Union (PSU) and its membership are heading for a showdown.{{more}}

In a letter dated March 21, some financial members of the Union issued a notice to the Executive that they will be taking a vote of no confidence against it. This action is likely to be taken on Saturday, April 9, when the Union holds its Annual General Meeting.

“It has saddened us the direction in which the executive has taken this organisation. Decisions and public announcements are being made committing the general membership to action without engaging us; this is tantamount to dictatorship,” the letter delivered to the Union stated.

The letter continued: “Then there is the vexing issue of the president[‘s]failure to lead delegations to go and discuss issues on behalf of public officers with the Prime Minister and other officials. The union has now become a pressure group and seems more like an arm of a political party instead of an impartial body looking out for its general membership”.

Joel Poyer, a civil servant and former Executive member who served the Union for many years, is one of the driving forces behind the notice calling for a vote of no confidence. Poyer, who is employed at the Forestry Division, previously served the Union in the capacity of President, Grievance Officer, First Vice-President, and Research Officer.

On Wednesday, March 30, Poyer told SEARCHLIGHT for some time now Civil Servants have been meeting him and have been asking the same question, ‘What is really taking place? What is taking place?’

“And then finally a number of prison officers and people at the hospital met,” said Poyer.

He disclosed that the initial meeting took place on Monday, March 14, followed by a second meeting on Wednesday, March 16, and at the latter a letter was drafted putting the Union on notice that called for a vote of no confidence of the Executive’s stewardship.

Explaining the real bone of contention, Poyer said: “The president and his body sent out a release without engaging the general membership, calling us out to picket. We have no problem in picketing, but let it be done in the right way. So we were called out to picket without any information as to why we should come out and picket.The Constitution of the organisation is clear as to how you should go about that.”

Secondly, said Poyer, the Prime Minister has beckoned the Union to have dialogue, but this call was ignored.

Poyer is of the view that “any good leader” would seize the opportunity to have discussions with the Prime Minister on issues pertaining to Civil Servants, especially in a case where the Reclassification issue has not been finalised.

“These are some of the vexing issues. Also, there is a whole lot of infighting within the Executive. …The president has a way, because I experienced it, when he doen’t get his way, it is either his way or no way. And you can’t have an organisation operating so, it is a democracy,” said Poyer.

Poyer charged that the Union is paying a retainer fee to lawyer Joseph Delves, but Delves’ counsel has been ignored on numerous occasions, while the Union is using other monies to seek counsel elsewhere. He said again this is being done without informing the membership.

The Union is headed by Cools Vanloo. SEARCHLIGHT made several attempts to reach Vanloo, but these were futile.

Poyer said the Union has not responded to the request for a vote of no confidence, but it will have to.

“This issue takes precedence. There are more than 12 financial members signing the document asking for a debate concerning the issue and they have to come. Even if they put it off until the AGM, it would take precedence over anything else at the AGM. You have to deal with that matter first before you could go forward,” said Poyer.

When contacted on the matter, General Secretary of the PSU Elroy Boucher said if the signatories to the letter sent to the Union are of the view that it is not going in the direction that it anticipates, they will have to convince other members that’s the situation, then the vote of no confidence will be upheld.

He explained that for a vote of no confidence to be taken, the meeting would have to be attended by a quorum of 25 members.The PSU is comprised of over 1, 000 members.

Boucher said the Constitution states that when there is a vote of no confidence, the Executive must call within 14 days a special general meeting to address the issue.

“In this case, you have a general meeting on the ninth of April. By the time that [the notice] was lodged, the 14 days falls on Wednesday before the ninth, which is the Saturday. It is logical to think that any right thinking person will just have one meeting. To call two meetings that close together is impractical,” said Boucher.

He, however, disclosed that the Executive had not taken any decision on the notice as yet. Boucher said the Constitution stipulates that after receiving a notice, if a meeting is not called the persons bringing a vote of no confidence can call the meeting.

“It would be interesting to see what happens,” said Boucher.