It’s a classic case of protest and punishment, or at least, that’s how Gerald Henry sees it. After more than twenty years in the Office of the Auditor General, Henry took to the streets this week, picketing against what he calls unfair treatment within the very institution he serves. But just days later, he received a letter, not of support, but of salary deduction. The office claims he’s been habitually late, racking up over nine hundred minutes of tardiness from February to May. That’s now costing him over four hundred dollars. Henry, however, says this is no coincidence, he expected retaliation the moment he went public. So, is this about discipline… or dissent?
Gerald Henry, Public Officer
“This has been something that has been an issue throughout the entire public service, especially for officers who reside in Dangriga. There is only one bus you can catch from Dangriga in the morning that is reasonable, which is a six thirty express from James. If you miss that bus it’s all over, because there is no other bus that will get you here for eight. Some public officers, a lot of public officers have been suffering in silence. There is a lot of them that have been forced to catch that five o’clock bus to reach here for sixty-thirty or seven, because there is no other bus. Once you miss that five o’clock you are left to catch six thirty. So it is always full all the way from PG, so there is no room for anyone to get on. This is something that I expected to happen and compared to previous time we have refused to do their bidding, this actually came late. I expected that something would have been done from Tuesday. We did our action Monday morning and we expected Tuesday morning to get something. So I am a little disappointed if you want to put it that way. But it is clearly retaliation against the actions we took for our rights and what we are duly owed. That is just the nature of the public service and the officer w work for currently.”
Henry noted that he was never given any previous warning and there is no justification for the assessment period to begin from February first. He further explained that he has been waiting for two years to have his appraisals done.