Last week, we reported extensively on the Public Sectors Workers Trust. That's the the entity set up by the BNTU and the PSU to manage the proceeds of more than half a million BTL shares. The Esquivel Administration gave the shares to the union as compensation to the teachers and public officers who had their wages and increments frozen between 1995 and 1997.
Now, the question of who is really entitled to the multi million dollars proceeds of those shares is a matter of contention.
On the one hand, you've got the public officers - thousands of them - who were employed at the time, and may still be in the public service, or have since retired.
On the other, you have the trustees - who are current members of the PSU and BNTU that are administering the trust.
Some of those retired public officers took the trust to court to argue that they should have the first say in how the trust's money is managed - when presently they have no say at all.
Today, two of the crusaders who led that case into court and won - gave us an interview saying that they are being denied control of what is rightfully theirs:...
Sheila Genitty, Retiree
"We were owed increments for 2 years. The government came up with this idea that they would give these shares, well the dividends to compensate us. We have still not been compensated. We are still owed and we still need to be compensated."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Is it your opinion that you all are being disposes or denied of what is rightfully yours?"
Sheila Genitty, Retiree
"That is what we believe and that is the reason why we take the matter to court."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"So you're saying though that those who are not a part of the increment freeze at that time had no rights to share in what is now in this trust?"
Sheila Genitty, Retiree
"It's not just we saying that. The court has said that."
Ruth White, Retiree
"So they are giving loans to people that were not involved in the increment freeze. Were not employed at that time, that should not be getting any loans or any type of benefit from that thing."
Sheila Genitty, Retiree
"And they are going to sit down and at that meeting and tell us the only way you can get anything from this trust you have to come with a proposal, come with a business plan."
"You are 70 and you are sick. You need help financially. You need medical help and they are going to tell you the only way you are going to benefit is if you borrow a loan of $4,000 from them or come with a business plan."
"How is that compensating anybody? If you go and borrow a loan from these people at 10%. You have to pay $20 for application fee and something that has to do with insurance or whatever. Supposed you have a person who has maybe $300 a month as pension? Because some people gets $300. Is that a benefit?"
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Should the loan program be continuing as it is at this time?"
Sheila Genitty, Retiree
"If we sit and agree on that. We have not agree on anything. Now somebody from the union, I think it was the PSU president or whatever or somebody at that meeting said to us 'oh we are trying to expand the trust because legally we are bound to expand the trust and invest and all of that.' Yeah, but to what end are you going to expand and get all this money and then what are you going to do for the beneficiaries, because we don't hear anything about that."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"So then it should stop."
Sheila Genitty, Retiree
"On terms to be agreed. Right now they shouldn't be doing that. They should be collecting what they have lent out already and they should be trying to sit with us so that we come up to an agreement as to whether we want the loan program to continue and what we want to do going forward."
"The minute we were deprived of those 2 increments affected us then, it has affected us over the 20 years and it affects us now. Let me explain again. At the time when you retire, the salary you are making at that point in time is used to calculate your gratuity. So at that point in time I was 2 steps back when I should have been. So it means that I got a lesser gratuity and it means my pension is smaller than it would have been. So it's affecting us even now."
"If I calculate what loss, I loss practically $10,000. Nobody is a fool. We are not expecting the trust fund to be able to pay me back and I am sure there are people who have lost more than I have. So if we sit down, we could come up with a project which will help beneficiaries, senior people, some medical help or something. That is one of the areas they can look at."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"The fund has to be grown. That's the only way it would be a benefit to the thousands."
Sheila Genitty, Retiree
"Jules, did you hear me when I say if we sit and talk we can decide on what investments will continue and what wont and what we can do? We are not saying we want them to go and pay out all this money. I understand the fund has to grow if it's going to benefit the people. Everybody won't access the fund at one time, but they are not sitting and talking. They are not looking at options. They are not looking at projects that we can use. Their thing is okay come with a loan and we make back this money expanding the fund and to benefit who? I keep asking."
Email
Print