So, while the Briceno Administration is trying to plug those leaks, the Public Service Union has weighed in with contempt. A release issued today says, quote, "Even as we are engaged in good faith discussions surrounding the drafting and implementation of a Whistleblowers Act, we were provided this morning with a Memorandum coming out of the Ministry of Finance which seeks to enforce an old-fashioned regulation which seeks to muzzle Public Officers from speaking out and exposing irregularities and unbecoming behavior of this Administration. The PSU calls on its members to continue speaking up and not remain silent in the face of wrongdoings, injustice and abusive actions within their respective Ministries." End quote.
And that's not all the union has to say. The Union also goes after the Ministry of Health and Wellness where it says there is, quote, "…flagrant political interference by the Minister of Health and Wellness in the administrative affairs of the Public Service." End quote.
They continue on to allege that "advisors" from the Minister's transition team were engaging in "political victimization, bullying, and intimidation" against career public officers. The union says that they received copies of several termination letters yesterday, which were signed by the Health Ministry's CEO. These letters, according to the PSU, announced the termination of several public officers from various health facilities across the country without any valid or justified reasons.
The Union says, quote, "The continued unconscionable victimization against public officers by this new administration is concerning and distressing to the PSU. We wish to point out that contrary to the Prime Minister's assertion, the actions being perpetrated by this administration is tantamount to herd retrenchment in certain ministries." End quote.
The union then continues to take aim at the Minister of Health and Wellness Michel Chebat by suggesting that the Prime Minister is unable to reign in him and, quote, his "political lackeys". They are suggesting that these new personalities in the Ministry are engaging in quote, "abuse of government assets and wasteful spending of government funds" on electronic gadgets and unjustified purchases. They are suggesting that the minister's_ "political lackeys" add no value to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and only serve to increase the wage bill in a time when the government is proposing salary cuts.
In its parting shot, the PSU then goes after the Ministry of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political reform by accusing them of being used as a pawn "in executing unfair and punitive transfers", which they think are causing the wage bill to grow even more.
