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1st Vice President, Dean Flowers told us that from the union's perspective, the Prime Minister is downplaying the long-term effects of foregoing the increment due to public officers:

Dean Flowers - 1st Vice President, PSU
"If it is that the PM said that the PSU does not wish to be a partner, and give up something during this difficult time, then either the PM misled the nation this morning, or he misspoke. We have written to the PM and the Financial Secretary to say that we are prepared to give up something. We are prepared to defer our increment. Now deferring our increment is giving up something."

"The Public Service Union is concerned about what is happening in the economy, and the Public Service Union wants to do its part to assist. The Prime Minister - any statement from the Prime Minister, or any other public figure that we're not cooperating is the furthest thing from the truth. What we're saying is that public officers are not rich people. Public officers rely on each penny that they can get, that will ensure their survival. The increment that is due to us annually, we work for. And if we are successful in our appraisals, we get that increment. And we're saying, having earned that increment, which we hope that most - if not all - public officers will earn in 2020. We are prepared to defer it because we do not expect the COVID-19 situation to go on forever and ever. We expect that it will improve. But, also, what we're saying is that as a responsible union, we realize that the finances of this country have not been managed properly, which has us in this dire situation, whereby revenues have dried up, and within a month or so, we are clinging [on] for dear life. I want to speak specifically about the tiny sacrifice that the PM said we'd be giving up, and about the measly contribution that we would be giving toward the 17 million. Those are very strong words, if not very offensive to public officers who risk their lives daily to provide service to this country with little or no gratitude. But in any event, he spoke of $900 for junior public officers, and he spoke of $1,600 for the senior public officers. If a junior public officer gives up his or her increment of $900 for this year, that is just the face value per annum that the person is giving up. Once you forego that increment, you now have to look at the number of years you have left in this service, and multiple that increment by that number to understand what it is that you're foregoing. When a minister - and he spoke of the different salaries that a minister receives. So, when a Minister gives up $4,000, that's it. He gives up $4,000, and he moves on."

"Let's look at a junior public officer, who maybe 45 years old, having 10 more years in the service. So, he gives up that $900 this year. Next year, he goes to another pay scale, but he goes short of $900, and each other year, that is what happens. So, in essence, that junior public officer with his remaining 10 years would be giving up $9,000 over 10 years. The Minister the minister only gave up $4,000."

"COVID doesn't have us where we are. Mismanagement, poor planning, lack of creativity, lack of discipline, and fiscal management have us where we are. And so, we're saying, we would also like for us to do x,y, and z to fix the economic crisis that this country is experiencing. So, we've put forward some cost-saving proposals to the government."