Shane Felix.
Almost eight months have passed since government promised to address a number of key issues raised by the Saint Lucia Fire Service Association (SLFSA) with regards to promotion and other grievances, with not one single issue addressed thus far.
President of the association, Shane Felix, told St. Lucia News Online (SNO) today (May 6) that the government, through the Public Service Ministry, had written the SLFSA requesting that they form four committees to deal with the outstanding issues.
The four committees are to deal with different matters. These include: reviewing the promotion policy, looking at sexual harassment complaints, paying ranks for the extra work they put in and developing a proper term of reference for auxiliary staff members.
Felix said that his association has responded to the ministry several weeks now, but has not received any response. The SLFSA is however not in agreement with all the recommendations and does not see it necessary to have four committees, to look into these matters.
Since these issue concerns both the Public Service Ministry and the Home Affairs Ministry, the SLFSA has also requested that a joint meeting be held between executives of the association and senior members of both ministries, so that it could be dealt with expeditiously.
Felix said it is taking way too long. He is however hopeful that the ministry will be able to respond soon, to recommence discussions.
An emergency meeting was held between the SLFSA and the Deputy Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre on September 11, 2014, where both parties agreed to continue dialogue and have these outstanding issues addressed.
That meeting was held during the same period when the association was on a national strike, which lasted for about two weeks.
The Fire Service has not seen any promotions since 2009. Apart from that the SLFS is also under resourced and understaffed, which is creating difficulties for the current batch of firefighters on the job.
Deputy Fire Chief Lambert Charles recently admitted to a severe staff shortage within the SLFS, but said the issue lies with the central government to ensure that the department is properly staffed.
Following the fire officers strike, Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony had announced plans to review the operations and management of the SLFS by a team of British experts.