(Trinidad Express) – Hundreds of public officers swarmed the streets of Port of Spain on Tuesday morning, disrupting traffic and forcing the closure of a portion of St Vincent Street. They were demonstrating against the Chief Personnel Officer’s (CPO) proposed one-per-cent increase in salaries for the period 2008-2010 (2008—0%; 2009—0%; 2010—1%). The proposal also included an offer to consolidate the cost of living allowance of $125 per month with salaries existing at December 31, 2007.
Their protests, however, failed to convince CPO Stephanie Lewis to renegotiate with president of the Public Services Association (PSA) Watson Duke, prompting him to call on his members to shut down all government offices from yesterday.
Duke met Lewis while his members danced and sang outside her office, under the supervision of more than a dozen police officers.
After his meeting with the CPO, Duke told the large crowd of supporters it was time for the PSA to shut down the Public Service and declared war on the government. He said the protest action will be repeated next Tuesday. “Between now and next week Tuesday, the Public Service must come to a halt. Go to your offices and do nothing. I am not talking about work-to-rule, you know; I am talking about going in to work and do nothing because you cannot concentrate when you have bills to pay; you can’t work when your children are crying out for milk,” Duke said.
“No barrels must be cleared in the port, the water service must be interrupted, the hospital must not operate as normal. All negotiations have come to an end until you are satisfied. Today is war.”
He lashed out at Labour Minister Errol McLeod and the “bogus” trade union leaders who he said were surrounding Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
“It takes a lot for me to be here today; my mother passed away on Sunday and I did not have time to cry for her. I cannot grieve because there is a bigger issue. The time has come when leaders must live selflessly; there are too many selfish trade unionists out there,” Duke said
“Too many selfish Errol McLeods; they do not care about you…and people like (David) Abdulah. Abdulah used to be a man marching for inflation; Abdulah used to be man who care about prices. Where is Abdulah? A dumb dog in Jerusalem; they have become dumb dogs in Jerusalem.” He added: “I have great respect for my brother, (Ancel) Roget, but I must say to him his comrades have disrespected the PSA and now is war.” Among the large contingent of workers participating in the protest were employees of the Central Statistical Office, Ministry of Education, Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), Customs and Excise Division and Electrical Inspectorate.
Manager of corporate communications at the Finance Ministry Beverly Foster said employees from the ministry were able to perform the duties of their colleagues who did not report for work yesterday. “Any area where there were people missing, we were able to shift employees to fill those spaces, so that members of the public were not adversely affected, and we were able to minimise any interruptions,” she said.
She added, “Based on what Mr Duke is saying, this is the first day so we have to wait and see what will happen.”
Operations at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) were also unaffected by the protest, manager of Corporate Communications Ellen Lewis said, adding there was no discernible absenteeism at the company.
