Duke declares victory in PSA elections

Incumbent president of the Public Services Association (PSA) Watson Duke declared victory in the executive elections during a live stream video from his Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, office on Wednesday night.

The elections for the PSA’s leadership were held on Monday and preliminary results posted temporarily on the trade union’s Facebook page on Tuesday indicated Duke was in the lead.

Other candidates in the election were concerned over the delay in results, saying such a slow pace of counting was almost unheard of in the PSA’s history.

Speaking ina video streamed from his Facebook page, Duke read from a document believed to be from PSA election officer Selwyn Malcolm, in which he announced he had retained his seat as president with 1,758 votes.

He said he was pleased with the victory and the performance of his Game Changers team, and vowed to take his responsibilities as a leader seriously.

He also announced what he had already done and planned to do soon.

“We have already dispatched a letter to the Minister of Finance with regard to National Insurance Board negotiations that were settled and the revised salaries that should have been paid since November 30 and the arrears coming out of those revised salaries that should be paid on December 31.

“We also wrote on negotiations in the public sector, asking him to have the Chief Personnel Officer come back to the table and the respective management from different organisations that we lead from as early as next year January.”

Duke also announced that he had reached out to Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales and hopes to begin discussions on overseeing the transformation of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) without a loss of workers.

He also promised to revamp the administrative workings of the PSA through more convenient online systems for making complaints while also allowing members to update their information with ease.

“When the next election comes around," he declared, "all those who want to vote can vote, and regardless of where you would have moved to, we would know your location, because you can go into your address, your workplace and amend it accordingly only with administration privileges.”