Tobago public servants cry foul

THE EDITOR: Public officers in Tobago are not happy with the treatment they are getting from the President of the PSA and the PSA Tobago Section. Some will say it’s the worst section ever elected in the history of PSA. We are saying this because when the PSA changed the union dues, the section said nothing about it, we learnt about it through a CPO circular. Then the Group Health Plan was forced on us, and we knew this only after the money started coming out of our salaries. Now they are bringing a green form begging us to sign it to help them to serve us, which is a joke, because we did not tell them or authorise them or any agency to deduct any money from our salaries.

Workers displaced at the Scarborough Health Centre are being sent to a private building. Did they do any checks or inspection under our Health and Safety Laws? The answer to that is no. We are also hearing that all public officers working in health will be going over to the RHA on transfer by September 2004, but believe it or not the PSA has not said anything to public officers about this exercise as to how it will be done. We are hoping that Senator JB Primus will break her silence on the matter, and tell us truthfully what she did, and what role the PSA will be playing in all of this.

For example the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago under which the Public Service Commission falls will have to be amended. The RHA Act, the Pension Act, public service regulation, etc, all these laws have to be dealt with in order to ensure the movement is smooth. With all of this going on, we are hoping that the Government will put in place the Patient Right Act whichwill open the door for better health care. Please tell us why the Health Surcharge is still being taken out of public officers salaries now that we have this new health plan.

THOMAS PHILLIPS
Port-of-Spain