AN Opposition MP is calling on the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Executive Director Dr Lennox Sealy to rescind WASA’s ultimatum to Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke and to adhere to the collective bargaining agreement.
Member of Parliament for Couva South Rudranath Indarsingh stated, “Failure to do so will set a dangerous precedent in how the State treats fairly with workers.”
Indarsingh said in a media release on Friday, “Dr Sealy must be reminded that of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between WASA and the PSA. In Clause 7(a) of Article 37 of the collective agreement, both WASA and the PSA agreed that should any employee at WASA be elected to serve on the Executive of the PSA, such employee would be granted leave without pay by WASA to pursue duties at the PSA.”
He stated that provisions for leave without pay while serving on the PSA executive were underscored by the approvals previously given to Duke who is on no-pay leave by the management of WASA to pursue duties on successive occasions.
“Dr Sealy’s correspondence to Mr Duke shows a flagrant disregard for the collective bargaining agreement and for the upholding of proper industrial relations between the company and its staff,” Indarsingh said.
He said that Dr Sealy’s approach in dealing with Duke prompted fear and potential panic in the minds of WASA workers especially at a time when the state-owned company was undergoing restructuring.
Indarsingh said that there was a hint of political victimisation given that Duke is the political leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) in Tobago.
In a letter dated April 14, Sealy wrote to Duke stating, “The authority places its position on record that your continued employment with the PSA is not in the best interest of the authority. Furthermore, your current portfolio as Minority of Leader of the Tobago House of Assembly is a conflict of interest base on the Civil Service Act of Trinidad and Tobago Chapter 23:01, Section (10) (1).”
