PSA members gear up for court over $4m loan

OUTSPOKEN members of the Public Service Association (PSA) are preparing to return to court after the union's general conference approved a $4 million, seven-year, loan last week.

The group of disgruntled PSA members who have filed contempt proceedings againt the PSA's executive over a failure to abide by previous court orders for audits, say they intend to bring this latest development to the court's attention, particularly since, in January, High Court judge, Justice Devindra Rampersad granted a varied injunction which prevented the union’s executive from making “extraordinary” expenses.

These were defined as expenditures not anticipated in the normal day-to-day operations and outside of the defined administrative and operative expenses of the PSA. The only extraordinary expenditure allowed would be those authorised by the union’s general council in keeping with the PSA’s constitution.

The five PSA members – Curtis Cuffie, Demetrius Harrison, Annisha Persad, Curtis Meade and Duaine Hewitt – had filed their contempt-of-court application.

Hewitt, a general council member and delegate at the conference - the two governing bodies of the PSA - told Newsday on Sunday, the conference voted unanimously to borrow the money from RBC which "flies in the face of the injunction."

At the conference, delegates were told the loan was needd to fix the elevator at the union's headquarters in Port of Spain, to renovate a building in San Fernando, do electrical works and for "cash-in-hand."

Hewitt said when questions were raised, members were not provided with supporting documents to justify the loan.

“Where are the quotations? Where are the invoices? Where are the supporting documents to support all these things you say you want to do? They are refusing to give us these documents.”

PSA president Leroy Baptiste declined comment when asked to respond to the claims made by the disgruntled union members.

“I'm sorry. I don't discuss the internal affairs of the PSA, I know is in the interest of the Newsday to probably be part of the politics, but I participate not in that,” Baptiste said.

The contempt action was sought after the members complained of repeated and continuous breaches by the PSA executive to comply with two previous orders of the court on section elections, auditing of accounts and membership lists.

They also said they feared the union’s assets would continue to be dissipated as purchases of luxury vehicles were made yet calls for accountability went unanswered.The PSA's executive has also been accused of not conducting the financial audits of the union as ordered by Rampersad in 2020.