Letter: Duke out of line

I would like to comment on the President of the PSA Watson Duke's remarks where he claims to have instructed the CPO not to pay public officers for the month of December.

This statement must be condemned because:
The CPO does not have the authority to instruct any accounting officer not to pay salaries without good reason eg authorised no-pay leave or suspension
The PSA as far as I recall represents at most 40% of all public officers. Many have left the PSA from time to time due to a lack of proper representation, while some officers never bothered to join.

I also condemn threats made against the Minister of Finance and the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago, and advise the president of the PSA to negotiate in good faith. There are processes that could influence a negotiation process. 

If talks with the CPO fail, then you could meet with the inter-ministerial negotiating team. Failure to achieve any agreement then results in the matter being referred to the Industrial Court.

Let us not head to any social unrest in Trinidad and Tobago which we will all regret.

Manohar Ramsaran
(Former cabinet Minister)