Our brand was tarnished by disgruntled member – Public Service Union

ELROY BOUCHER, president of the Public Service Union (PSU) says the 80-year-old organisation’s “image, reputation and brand” have been damaged as a result of a Facebook post made by a disgruntled member.

And the matter has been brought to the attention of the Union’s lawyers for advice on how to proceed.

The post in question was apparently made on August 4 by a father and PSU member, whose child was initially chosen to receive a scholarship from the Union.

The father, in the post made to the social media platform, alleges that the scholarship was rescinded because of his affiliation with the Unity Labour Party (ULP).

However, Boucher, who was speaking at a press conference on August 9, said that the scholarship offer was withdrawn because the individual had already accepted a scholarship from another institution.

“The PSU Education Committee would’ve gone through the process of selecting five persons, five students from a list of 20 applicants to be offered a PSU scholarship,” the PSU president explained.

“The parents of the selected students were called and informed that their child was being offered a PSU scholarship.They were also informed that if they chose to accept the PSU scholarship, they cannot accept another scholarship from another institution.”

Boucher said the Union was reliably informed prior to the scholarship award ceremony on August 4, that one of the recipients had already been awarded a scholarship from another institution.

The president added that a conversation was had with the parent of that recipient, who initially denied that his child had received a scholarship from another institution. Boucher said the parent “later admitted that his son was awarded a scholarship from the Nurses’ Association, but thinks he is entitled to one from the PSU as a result of his membership”.

He told media at last week’s press conference that the letter normally given to parents of scholarship recipients was read to the parent, which states that scholarship recipients can only be awarded a PSU scholarship if they have not accepted a scholarship from another institution.

Gwyneth Stoddard-Baptiste, the Union’s first vice president and member of the Education Committee was also present at last week’s press conference, where she read the PSU’s Education Policy, which also outlined that particular rule.

Boucher said the parent’s Facebook post has led to “quite disparaging” comments being made about the Union.

“The PSU is an 80-year-old organisation and has a reputation of standing firmly with and supporting its members.That reputation came under threat by a disgruntled and a dishonest member…,” he said.

“This matter has since been brought to the attention of our lawyers and thus we will await whatever advice they will give to us in response to which steps to take in response…” Boucher added that the PSU scholarship had been around for quite some time, and that they had never encountered such an incident.

He remarked that the first four persons to be awarded scholarships all eventually declined because they had gotten better offers from other institutions, which paved the way for other persons to be awarded scholarships.

The president noted that to his knowledge, this is the policy of other local institutions who offer scholarships as well.