By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Trinidad and Tobago Postal Workers Union (TTPWU) is demanding an apology from Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales for statements made alluding to postal workers attempting to solicit funds from citizens by placing empty envelopes in their mailboxes.
The union held a press conference on Wednesday to address the issue stating that Gonzales seemed not to be aware of the Christmas tradition of customers placing money in envelopes for postal workers which resulted in the alleged suspension of one worker.
First Vice-President of TTPWU, Barrington Farfan said the tradition has been in place for over 30 years and described the suspension as “harsh” and “oppressive”.
He said, “The minister would have took it upon himself to be judge and jury and by his action today at 8.20 am would have resulted in a worker being suspended. The TTPWU does not condone this. This worker that was suspended today for doing something that burgesses would have requested. It was wrong, harsh and oppressive.”
Farfan called for the worker’s suspension to be lifted immediately and an apology from the minister for his statements.
He said, “The union is calling on management, the minister to retract this suspension with immediate effect. We would like that an apology be given by the minister who is a ‘now come’ to the system.”
On Monday, Gonzales said he was informed that postal workers were leaving empty, brown and unsealed envelopes in the mailboxes of citizens stamped “Seasons Greetings from your District Postman” which was an attempt to solicit funds for a job they were being paid for by the state.
The minister called for the action to stop immediately.
On Thursday, Gonzales told AZPNews.com, he had nothing more to say on the matter.
He said, “Nothing much to add from what I’ve already stated. I expect the Board and Management of TTPOST to act to protect the interest of the public and the professional reputation of the company. I implore the workers of TTPOST to do the right thing and not take bait from those who are pretending to be speaking in their interest.”
