OVER the past few weeks, a number of people, me included, have weighed in on the question of security of tenure of public officers.
It would be an understatement to say that there is a wide divergence of opinion and that has left workers in a state of confusion. So, in light of Government’s imminent reorganisation, or rather imminent devastation, of the Customs Department, I believe that it would be useful to address this matter for the benefit of public officers, particularly Customs officers, and indeed the general public.
Security of tenure, in relation to workers, is the legal protection given to them against summary dismissal without just cause. Originally, civil servants were employed at the pleasure of the Crown. That is, their employment was not considered to be contractual and they could have been dismissed without cause and without any recourse.
Then, with the advent of the Barbados Constitution, the establishment of service commissions and a detailed set of regulations, public officers were given an illusion of security of tenure. The courts came to accept that the employment of civil servants had become contractual, albeit subject to certain statutory provisions.
Unfortunately, and without fanfare, the delusion of security of tenure was shattered by a ruling in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). That court appeared to master the art of double speak when, in the case of Winton Campbell vs the Attorney General, it said: “The Appellant’s office (like most public offices) can be abolished at will by an order made by Parliament at the instigation of the Minister responsible for the Civil Service so long as such order is not impeachable in judicial review proceedings. However, the appellant’s office has plenty of protection under the Service Commissions (Public Service) Regulations 1978, as amended from time to time, so that it can be submitted that his appointment to perform the task allocated to the Chief Electrical Engineer by the Electricity Act appears to be one that will endure until retirement age so long as he was not guilty of behaviour causing him to fall foul of the regulations, subject, of course, to the overriding statutory power to abolish his public office at any time.”
The CCJ is really saying that security of tenure for most public officers is a mythical thing that exists in legend, but not in reality.
It is particularly troubling that the political administration which put in place the main aspects of security of tenure in the Employment Rights Act, to benefit private sector workers, could be so merciless as to exploit an error made by the CCJ with the effect of ravaging the Customs Department
Government is moving ahead with indecent haste to subsume the Customs and Excise Department into the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) without considering the adverse effects on the workers and without any meaningful resistance from their representatives.
Contrary to what politicians might say, Customs officers are special. They constitute a specialised sector of the Public Service that cannot be easily replaced. They are not like politicians who do not require any specific training or knowledge of their jobs to function. These officers, who have given yeoman service to this country, are now being coerced by threats to buy a pig in a bag.
It would appear that the terms and conditions of Customs’ entry into the BRA are a work in progress that is to be imposed on Customs officers on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.
Since this administration’s election to office in 2008, it has demonstrated an uncanny ability, with almost everything that it has implemented, to create poverty among the masses.
Customs officers, acting as a unified group, can demonstrate to this administration that they are not prepared to be sacrificed on the Government’s altar of incompetence.
Just say ‘No’
These officers have it in their power to tell Government that its actions, in respect of Customs, are indeed wrong-headed, so wheel and come again.
However, that power can only be exercised by Customs officers collectively and with enlightened self-interest. They must resist the temptation to break ranks for short-term gain and defiantly say to Government, “Touch one, touch all”.
