Thunderous applause echoed through the halls of Parliament yesterday, when government senators resoundingly condemned the Statutory Corporations General Provisions Bill of 2016 and voted with the Opposition, to send it back to the Lower House.
Senator Wigley George, the first member on the government side to oppose the Bill, told the House that it was redundant, gave excessive power to ministers and jeopardised the security of employment.
“I was mandated [by the Antigua Trades & Labour Union] not to support this Bill, and on a personal level, I could not in good conscience support this Bill. I am concerned that too much power has been given to a minister, that a minister could do as he or she feels without redress…I request that this Bill be sent back for review,” he declared.
The Bill, passed by the Lower House of Parliament, shortly before Carnival, gives a minister and the Cabinet the power to appoint and terminate any member of a board of a statutory corporation if it is “expedient” to do so.
The Bill also restricts a Board from appointing or removing any senior officer or managerial personnel without the approval of the Cabinet. Additionally, the Bill gives Cabinet the power to transfer employees of statutory corporations to the public service or other corporations on “secondment”.
George argued that the power to appoint and disappoint board members was already captured in several other pieces of legislation, making it needless to re-introduce the provision in the new Bill.
He also argued that by law some persons by virtue of their position or affiliation are entitled to sit on certain boards and should not be in jeopardy or arbitrarily removed as allowed for by certain interpretations of the Bill.
George said that the Bill gave “the perception that the minister has the right to micromanage” the affairs of statutory corporations. He also warned that it leaves employees open to unjust dismissal or secondment. “To me, that is victimisation,” the senator said.
He added that moving someone with a substantial salary from a statutory corporation into the public service with the same salary would put them at odds with senior staff who operate at lower pay in the public service.
“Do you think that permanent secretaries, assistant secretaries and others will be happy?” George queried.
“I know, for sure, that this Bill has sent shock waves through the statutory corporations … With over 7000 workers behind me, I cannot support the Bill, and I reiterate that I am expecting that this Bill be sent back and redrawn,” he concluded.
The government senator was merely one of the many who openly denounced the Bill. After elaborating a number of similar concerns regarding the security of individuals’ employment, Independent Senator Hendren Parker said, “I respectfully ask that this Bill be withdrawn.”