Mary Isaac.
The Ministry of Public Service has accused Civil Service Association (CSA) executive Mary Isaac of making “a number of grossly inaccurate statements” on a local television newscast, yesterday, Feb. 25.
The Ministry has issued a statement in this regard and said it believes that it needed to respond to these statements and provide “accurate facts” on the matters raised, especially as it relates to the rights of public officers as it relates to their attendance at trade union meetings.
The ministry said in a letter dated Feb. 18, 2015 the CSA had requested permission to grant time off to members of the CSA in accordance with the Collective Agreement between the Government of Saint Lucia and the CSA to attend an “Extra-Ordinary General Meeting” with its members, inclusive of members within the essential services.
It said the purpose of the meeting was to, update on negotiations between the St. Lucia Civil Service Association and the Government of Saint Lucia and to discuss a petition submitted to the General Secretary on Feb. 9, 2015.
According to the ministry, by Feb. 24, 2015 the ministry informed Isaac, the acting general secretary that Article 5.2 of the Collective Agreement stipulates that time off may be granted ‘provided reasonable notice is given and that the Employer’s business is not affected.’
“The ministry informed Isaac that the time she requested, which is 9:00 a.m., will disrupt the operations of the government service and therefore the ministry could not accede to this request. The ministry also informed Isaac, that the CSA should reschedule the meeting to a time that is more appropriate,” the statement added.
The ministry reminded that the rights of members of the CSA as it relates to their attendance at union meetings are governed by the Staff Orders for the Public Service of Saint Lucia and the CSA Collective Agreement.
“The ministry wishes to unequivocally state that the said documents do not indicate that members of any union have the right to attend union meetings without seeking the approval of their permanent secretary or head of department. On the contrary Order 4.5 (1) of the Staff Orders for the Public Service clearly stipulates that ‘An officer who absents himself from duty without permission except in the case of illness or other unavoidable circumstances shall render himself liable to disciplinary action.”
The said provisions of the Staff Orders for the Public Service of Saint Lucia and the CSA Collective Agreement are well known to Isaac and other executive Union officials; hence the reason why Isaac sought permission from the permanent secretary of the Ministry of the Public Service for the members of the CSA to attend the extraordinary meeting, the ministry stated.
The ministry also noted that Isaac made comments, which “imputed unfairness and bias on the part of the ministry.” The ministry said it takes umbrage at these “distasteful, false and insolent” comments which were made by Isaac.
Further,the statements made Ms. Isaac namely that the “ministry has their friends”, “the ministry has always responded to their requests that way” and “the ministry has always been negative to this particular executive” is unequivocally false,” the statement further added.
The ministry during during Isaac’s tenure they have approved 34 requests submitted by the CSA for officers to be given time off to attend CSA meetings, during a period of eight months. The ministry said the information it provided in its arguments could be verifiable and can be fact checked.