PSC members should resign – PSU president

ELROY BOUCHER, president of the Public Service Union (PSU), has declared that the union has no confidence in the Public Service Commission (PSC).

And the president is calling for the resignation of all PSC board members.

Boucher’s comments come in light of the judgment delivered by Justice Esco Henry on December 19, 2018, which declared that the Commission failed to comply with the Regulations in respect of the promotion of the five officers.

The 64-page judgment was also published last week on eccourts.org.

“The PSU have no confidence whatsoever in the PSC currently as they are. We have no confidence, no trust in Cecil Blazer Williams and his team and the public officers themselves have no confidence and no trust in Cecil “Blazer” Williams,” Boucher said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The PSU president said that in his view, the service commission has deliberately set out to victimize public servants. He further said that this is happening under the chairmanship of Williams.

While making reference to specific parts of the judgment, Boucher said that the victimization present in the public service comes in the forms of nepotism, favouritism or “friend friend promotion” and political victimization.

He also said that when Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves informed him back in November of his intention to advise the Governor General to reinstate the entire board, he (Boucher) objected.

“The Prime Minister insisted that Cecil Blazer Williams has been doing a good job and continues to do so. This statement by the prime minister is telling in light of the Court’s ruling,” he said.

“In light of what Justice Esco Henry has said, I have no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that the good work that is being done by Mr Blazer Williams and applauded by our prime minister is indeed the good work of victimising numerous public servants. And the prime minister seems to be, from his utterances, in utter support of these blatant victimisation and unfair practices in the public service.”

Boucher also said the Gonsalves’ decision, given that he is also the minister with responsibility for the public service, is alarming. He further said that it was “a slap in the face of this ruling by the court” and an affront to all workers and trade unions.

The president added that findings by Justice Henry raise questions of legality of making appointments, yet appointments continue to be made within the public service.

“It’s a demonstration of lack of concern for fairness, transparency and good governance. That is where we have come to within the public service and this is happening under a labour government. Hence I have no difficulty at times in coining this government as being an anti-worker government because when you have these sort of wrongs being perpetrated on public officers, the correct thing to do is to try and get it right; try and correct the wrongs and ensure that they’re not happening again to send a strong message that they will not be perpetrated again,” he said.

Boucher reiterated the union’s intent to bring further cases against the PSC in an effort to continue to highlight what he says is victimisation taking place within the public sector.