(Trinidad Express) Another violent clash erupted at the office of the Public Services Association (PSA) yesterday evening as the group deemed the PSA rebels stormed the union’s offices, on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, in a bid to reclaim leadership of the association.
The altercation took place just after 6 p.m., during a meeting of the association on the second floor of the PSA office. The confrontation ensued after general secretary Nixon Callender arrived, about half an hour into the meeting.
Interim PSA president Rosanna Robinson and executive members, Rickie Cedeno and Rendy Bidassie, were attempting to deliver a letter demanding the removal of standing president Watson Duke when Callender, armed with his own baton, pushed and shoved the security guard, Robinson and her group down the stairs and continued to force the security guard out the door.
However, Robinson and her group remained in the building.
At this point, several police officers from the Guard and Emergency and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) arrived and snatched Callender, who was then marched up Abercromby Street to a waiting police vehicle and left there.
More officers arrived, armed with tear gas launchers and riot gear but stayed outside the office.
Robinson said she and her team were prepared to wait until Duke left the office.
Robinson and her group locked the gate to the car park and barred the entrance, singing union songs of solidarity.
Duke made two appearances in the almost three hours of the fracas, once to monitor Callender’s detention and a second time to call out to the head of the police.
At 7 p.m., Callender was escorted back to the building.
“We have taken back the PSA,” said executive member Solomon Gabriel.
“We are also calling on all PSA members to come in as soon as possible to lend solidarity to the cause,” he said.
Gabriel said they were keeping watch over the union’s assets and likened Duke to a “cornered animal” fighting back.
“We did expect that from that man,” Robinson said, referring to the level of violence.
While Duke, Callender and first vice-president Christopher Joefield met upstairs, the other members had a sit-in on the ground floor and met with their lawyers.
“There is over TT$100 million in assets here, and we don’t want anything to happen to that,” she said.
“He is already under investigation by the Fraud Squad for that TT$4 million heist he pulled last year, and we just want to save what we can,” she claimed.
By 7.45 p.m., Callender exited the building and moved his car to the car park.
Robinson, her team and their lawyers remained in the office while Duke was escorted from the building by his private security and members of the IATF.
“This is it. We not moving. Police just trying to broker the thing. There’s a call from above it seems, but this will be solved on the ground,” Gabriel said.
