By Staff Writer
Attempts by the Public Service Association, PSA, to raise job security concerns directly with the Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa, has been met with silence after several weeks of waiting.
The PSA resolved after a national membership meeting about three weeks ago to write to the PM Fiame requesting a meeting.
The letter was referred instead to the Public Service Commission, PSC, where a response was given instead of directly from the PM.
The PSA in its second meeting yesterday on Saturday has again resolved to call on the PM for direct dialogue on their concerns.
Prior to the weekend meeting the Public Services International, PSI, wrote to the PM Fiame in support of the PSA call for talks.
The PSI letter in support of the PSA’s unsuccessful attempts so far to meet has brought wary reactions from the former PM and HRPP opposition leader, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
“This is a public service rights issue in response to the Government action in the termination of CEO services and now coming down to Assistant CEOs,” Tuilaepa summarised.
He felt that the PSA big strike of 1981 still lurks largely in the service with many who were involved still around.
Tuilaepa was a public servant at the time and is closely familiar with the unhappy events that paralysed the country and eventually end up in court when the Government at the time sacked the strikers.
“The strikers determination to continue hardened with comments by the Government at the time that it is the nature of Samoans to come crawling back on their bellies when they are hungry,” Tuilaepa recalled.
A serious concern the opposition leader believes would compound the public servants issue is the Government move to make direct recruitment of staff without going through the proper process.
The direct hiring of consultants at CEO salary scales and casual workers like drivers at salary scale comparable or higher than a returning university graduate, are a worry also.
“It leads to huge morale damages and also agonises the working harmony in the service when consultants are hired at salaries and allowances above $100 thousand tala or more.
“Drivers who were getting between 8-11 thousand tala a year suddenly paid wages of $17 thousand tala plus $17 thousand in allowance are not lost on the watching public servants.”
Tuilaepa argued that it is impossible to hide anything in the service because there are processes to follow and accounting to be reported that will show up everything.
The injustices of a public servant who struggled through the process over a long time to reach a salary scale that a person who was hired overnight from outside the system was soundly criticised by the former PM.
“There’s nothing wrong if these people were being paid straight from the Minister’s pockets but it’s us the taxpayers money to run the Government that they are dipping into.
“The PM leads the way with the hiring of a Chief of Staff who is supposed to be working together with the Ministry CEO and I don’t really know who does what.
“ We have to be careful we don’t end up with a service where there are too many chiefs and no Indians.”
Tuilaepa made a pointed remark as well to claims in Parliament during the recent budget debate by the Minister of Works, Olo Fiti Vaai, that he needs more consultants to advice him because of the range covered by his portfolio.
The concern is that it opens the door to the rewarding of election campaign workers and to nepotism when relatives are hired against the principles of good governance by going through the official recruitment process.
“There are rules of looking after public property and in a very small country like us talk spreads very quickly that can create a lot of problems.”
The PSA Saturday meeting added new members to its Council while at the same time reporting a jump in new membership.
The association of public servants has been dormant for many years after the peak of the 1981 strike.