Deputy Prime Minister Reginald Austrie has called out the leadership of the Public Service Union(PSU) and criticized their actions as not being in the best interest of the country.
In an interview with DBS radio, Austrie said, “I believe the statements made by Letang continues to demonstrate Mr.Letang’s interest is not in the country or to public officers but to Mr.Letang’s own personal interest…It appears to me that Letang and the Public Service Union, the leadership of the Public Service Union, they not interested really in the development of the country but to cause problems, cause agitation, to disrupt the economic and social fabric of our country”.
Austrie’s comments came after the general secretary of the DPSU, Thomas Letang, announced that the DPSU will embark on a ‘go slow’ to force Government to the negotiating table. “I mean there is a process by which negotiations are continued, there is a process by which you engage the person you are negotiating with. But calling for ‘go slow’ is really asking public officers to be ill-disciplined, not even a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay”, said Austrie.
The DPSU formally presented a proposal for a salary increase for 2018-2021 cycle to Government in December and has been calling Government to the negotiating table since then.
