PSA boss accuses CPO of trying to overthrow the T&T government

Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke on Tuesday denied that he encouraged his members to "shut down the country". 

And he pledged to continue his fight for a living wage while rejecting the one per cent increase offered to government workers over a three year period.

Duke also accused Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Stephanie Lewis of trying to destabilise then government. 

"We didn't ask people to shut down the country", Duke stated in an address to PSA members following a meeting with Lewis at which there was no breakthrough.

"We told her in no uncertain terms that she is working for a secret agency that is trying to overthrow the Government. There are many different acronyms out there, there is CIA, PNM, many other acronyms," he said.

He accused the CPO of "talking hogwash" and continuing to refuse to adjust her offer noting that the country cannot afford what the PSA is asking.

Related story: PSA demands could push TT budget deficit to $12B

Duke said there is no proof that the country cannot afford the additional expenditure. "What we asking for is just $1.1 billion. That is small money," he said.

"The CPO recited the line she had been reciting for the last two sessions of negotiations, nothing beyond one per cent," he said. He said the PSA is willing to accept a freeze on the five per cent increase on allowances but the association will not take a wage freeze.

He said he offered a creative solution. "We told her to move that money that was allocated to allowances and put that difference on the salaries. She said she didn't know what that was worth and had to calculate it and come back to us, by that we know she was unprepared," Duke said.

The CPO told the Trinidad Express she promised that she would consider the PSA proposal and provide a response at the next meeting. However he also reiterated the PSA's salary proposals "could not be borne by the economy and was not sustainable".

Many workers stayed away from their jobs and marched en masse Tuesday. Duke said there will be a repeat of the "Blackout Tuesday" next week. He is demanding that the workers get what they are demanding, adding that if they don't he does does not care "if the country mash up".