Union Leader Challenges Tax Authority Over Staff Fate

But President of the Public Service Union, Dean Flowers is not fully onboard with the explanation provided by Director General Longsworth during a recent meeting. Flowers appeared on Open Your Eyes where he questioned what would become of those employees who chose to remain in the public service. He contends that there will be a challenge to find a place for those individuals within the wider public service.

 

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“How can you say I can simply transition. So, if I transition, let’s say I choose to go to lands department or immigration department, any department where they can find a place for me, because the minister of public service will say to you, he don’t know where the will put two hundred and thirty-six people if they all decide they want to transition out. But let us say a hundred and fifty want to transition out, where will you place them, and if you place them in an area that is not designed for their skill set then you the waste time. You have to retrain, reskill and you lose all that investment that is made to these people, but more so, some of these people were placed on pay scales that may not fit in these new ministries. So, you will have to find a pay scale that matches their salary, which could pretty much cause them to go on a lower pay scale while on the same salary, so they lose money. What happened to allowances some of them already entitled to? You are no longer an officer that needs a vehicle or a go out, so you will lose money. So, it is not simple that you transition out and everything remains normal, no you lose your seniority. If the organogram nuh have a position for you a senior, you lose seniority and become a clerk as happened with the companies registry deputy director I believe it was.”