May 19, 2021
Dean Flowers
The letter from the Labour Commissioner also suggested that the unions who are engaged in industrial action are threatening public health and safety by congregating in numbers greater than ten, which is in violation of Quarantine Regulations. P.S.U. Vice President Dean Flowers did not mince words in his counter response.
st Vice President, P.S.U.
“I challenge the, I’ll have to use this word with a lot of respect of course, defunct, because I don’t know if we have a Director of Health Services. But I challenge the defunct Director of Health Services, or whosoever is acting since I understand doctor Musa after doing such a wonderful job has returned. So I don’t know if it is one of the special advisors from the minister – so many of them – I don’t know if it is one of them that’s keeping the tabs on the numbers now, so I can’t call no name. But I challenge any one of them to show me the numbers where the unions’ protests a
st Vice President, P.S.U.
“We received information that some members of the air traffic control crew – gentlemen working at the tower and the radar room as I understand it – are victims of what I would classify as victimization, witch-hunt and some serious allegations by the Director of Civil Aviation. The letters that have been shared with me by the gentlemen accuses them of sabotage, it accuses them of negligence and it accuses them of planning and colluding the sabotage of I don’t know, perhaps the landing of planes or I really don’t know. I took the liberty to have a phone call with Mr. Carter and he said to me, as far as he is concerned, the actions of the four or five officers were carefully planned, that they colluded, they orchestrated this and that in his eyes, they are guilty of sabotage, negligence and I believe reckless behaviour or something to that effect.”
st Vice President, P.S.U.
“We have served the public service notice that we will take legal action where our people are being victimized. And, because of the victimization that is happening with termination and transfers, the talks this morning almost broke down and that is why we did not get far. And I want to be clear on that. The talks this morning almost broke down, because of the nonsense that was on tv last night whereby people were being threatened. I am pleased to report that under the good leadership of the three ministers there today we were able to get their commitment that the victimization stops, and it stops now…”
Dean Flowers
“Absolutely not Paul, I think those media houses with whom the joint unions, and more importantly the P.S.U. has engaged over the years, knows who they are. We do not engage with political media houses. Our concern of course that some of the permanent media houses, there are period of times when we may want to question their Independence. But, at the end of the day, as long as they are operating within certain standards and guidelines, we look past political bias. It has nothing to do with politics.
I am left to wonder if it is that the current administration sees us as a political threat or a viable third party why they have taken the route they have taken to attack the Unions via political ads. This is a new low.”
Apr 22, 2021
P.S.U. and Teachers Protest Outside National Assembly Building
All eyes today were on Independence Hill, as teachers, nurses and other members of the joint unions came out to express their discontent with G.O.B. and its intent to cut their salaries by ten percent and freeze their increments for an additional three years. News Five’s Duane Moody was outside the National Assembly this morning.
Duane Moody, Reporting
As early as eight a.m. today, teachers gathered at the steps of the Independence Hill outside the National Assembly Building in anticipation of day one of the budget debate. As parliamentarians arrived, their chants reverberated in the air – they want good governance and the ratification of the UNCAC.