The Saint Lucia Civil Service Association (CSA) is still seeking answers in relation to public service appointments, after an exchange of letters with the Cabinet Secretary on the issue.
And the union has warned of unspecified action should a cabinet conclusion that gave rise to the questions not be reviewed or rescinded.
“They have not answered the questions – for instance what happens to persons who are currently acting when that acting ends? What happens to persons who have been recommended to act in the meantime and would they be appointed or not? Will appointment of non-established workers continue?” CSA General Secretary Claude Paul wanted to know.
Paul described the questions as legitimate ones which CSA members want answered.
The CSA had written to Cabinet Secretary Benjamin Emmanuel expressing concern about the recent cabinet conclusion.
Paul told St Lucia Times that in its current form, the document seems to be undermining the constitutional role of the Public Service Commission.
According to Paul, the document asserts that there shall be no appointments in the public service except with the endorsement of cabinet.
“In effect that means that appointments in the public service have to first be endorsed by cabinet,” he explained.
The CSA official said in the opinion of the union, the wording seems to suggest that cabinet is assuming the responsibility for appointments in the public service.
He recalled that the CSA wrote the Cabinet Secretary, who replied in a July 31, 2020 letter indicating that the intent of the policy decision was reducing the government’s recurrent expenditure in response to the negative impact of COVID-19.
“It is unfortunate that the referenced Cabinet Conclusion is so misunderstood and being misinterpreted in some cases, not without deliberate intent,” the Cabinet Secretary wrote.
CSA General Secretary Claude Paul said that concerns were also expressed that the union relied on a leaked copy of the Cabinet Conclusion.
But he asserted that it was unfair for the Cabinet Secretary to point fingers at a public officer, without having poof.
“Anybody who had access to the document is potentially the person who leaked it, including persons sitting in the cabinet,” Paul told St Lucia Times.
CSA President Cyprian Montrope in an August 3, 2020 letter to the Cabinet Secretary warned that failure to amend or rescind the cabinet conclusion will cause the trade union to ‘take whatever steps it deems appropriate to rectify the situation.’
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