Question marks over NWU delegates selection in PNP race

A veil of secrecy clouds the criteria used by the National Workers’ Union (NWU) to confer voting rights on dozens of persons to elect the next president of the opposition People’s National Party (PNP).

Approximately 3,400 delegates, drawn from the PNP’s national and regional executive bodies and affiliate groups, are scheduled to decide on Saturday whether Lisa Hanna or Mark Golding should lead the 82-year-old political organisation.

Among the 50 delegates the NWU submitted to the PNP secretariat are Jamaica’s athletics boss Dr Warren Blake, engineer Steve Ashley and business consultant Makeda Ramgeet, according to a leaked document obtained by The Sunday Gleaner.

One journalist who is a chief NWU delegate was also included on the list. But when contacted on Thursday, he said it was an error and insisted that he did not authorise it. Since then, his name was reportedly removed from the list, party insiders confirmed on Saturday.

For Blake, a former PNP candidate and outgoing president of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association, his inclusion did not come as a surprise, but he was not interested in discussing his ties to the NWU.

“I do work for the NWU,” said Blake, also indicating that he is a member of the union before shutting down further enquiries.

“Speak to Mr Valentine and he will answer your questions,” he said, referring to NWU General Secretary Granville Valentine.

Ashley made it clear that he was “not interested in discussing PNP business in the press”.

“I have no duty to explain anything about politics to the press,” Ashley added, before he, too, directed questions to Valentine.

However, the NWU general secretary told The Sunday Gleaner that a gag order bars him from discussing the concerns raised. He did not disclose who imposed the order.

“I am barred from speaking on any of the issues that are being dealt with now,” said Valentine, whose union has publicly endorsed Golding.

The Golding campaign has not raised any objections to the NWU’s list of delegates, but is now expected to revisit the issue.

“I will mention it to the campaign team so that they can work out how they will deal with that issue,” Patricia Duncan Sutherland, spokesperson for Golding’s campaign, said of the senior journalist’s inclusion on the list.

HANNA’S CAMP CONCERN

Hanna’s camp has taken issue with the list and an internal appeals committee was expected to issue a ruling yesterday on the objections.

Donna Scott Mottley, spokesperson for Hanna’s team, declined comment for this story, citing the gag order imposed by the appeal committee.

Questions about who is eligible to become a NWU delegate and the criteria for selection are among the many pitfalls of the antiquated delegates-only method used by the PNP to select its leader, insiders say.

The NWU has been allowed to select PNP delegates for decades, one insider revealed, under an informal arrangement that allows the party to benefit from some of the talents that come through the ranks of the trade union.

“But they have taken advantage of the absence of a formal arrangement to hand-pick people. There is no agreement that says the NWU delegate to the PNP conference must meet particular criteria,” the source charged.

Vincent Morrison, a former president of the NWU, disclosed that under its constitution, only bona fide members should be selected as delegates.

He acknowledged, too, that delegates can be selected from the pool of private-sector employees represented by the NWU.

A critical requirement, Morrison said, is that they must be paid-up members over a long period.

“The constitution is very clear … . It refers to delegates of the union coming from the sectors represented by the union. When you talk about the sectors, you talk about bauxite, sugar, manufacturing, you name it,” said Morrison, a Hanna supporter.

“In other words, you don’t pick up somebody today, tomorrow or last week and say, ‘You know, you are going to appear on the voters’ list’. You don’t have a friend who call you and say they want to be a delegate,” Morrison added.

The NWU delegates’ list also triggered controversy during last year’s presidential election, resulting in the creation of an internal committee to review the relationship between the PNP and its affiliate union.

The review was triggered by “allegations, rumours, legal wranglings and media reports” circulating about the NWU, the committee chaired by veteran trade unionist Danny Roberts acknowledged.

The Roberts committee admitted, also, that issues about the selection process for NWU delegates to the party’s annual conference were first raised between July and August 2015 by former PNP general secretary, Paul Burke.

“In 2016, he expressed serious concerns about the NWU’s delegates’ list as the persons selected, to the best of his knowledge, although strong Comrades, never raised their voice as advocates of the working class by any stretch of the imagination,” a report by the committee revealed.

ALLEGED IRREGULARITIES

Further, the report showed that a week after last year’s PNP presidential election, a then senior officer at the NWU wrote to the now outgoing PNP president, Dr Peter Phillips, complaining that he was omitted from the list of delegates the union submitted to the party, among a string of alleged irregularities.

The Roberts committee signed off on a number of recommendations, but it is not clear if any of the proposals have been implemented.

The recommendations include a requirement that the PNP should have the final say on the list of NWU delegates to its annual conference with certain provisions.

Ramgeet admitted that over the last decade, she has voted as a PNP delegate under the NWU banner “because I am a dues paying member”. She claimed, too, that the union has “acted on my behalf before”.

“I am a dues paying delegate of the NWU. I’ve been so for more than 10 years and I’ve voted in this capacity for over 10 years for the party,” she said.

However, the communications expert and former general secretary of the PNP Women’s Movement said based on her understanding, there is no requirement for a NWU delegate to be employed to the union.

Duncan Sutherland admitted that she was “not very clear” on the eligibility requirements because she has not read the Trade Unions Act, “and that’s what govern their membership”.

“We don’t really have a basis to object to anybody in the NWU because the NWU has its own constitution and they select their delegates,” she added.

The issues surrounding the NWU delegates’ list, insiders say, have helped to build consensus around the urgent need for the PNP to incorporate the wider base of supporters into the decision-making process.

Colin Campbell, a former PNP general secretary, noted that the delegates-only system was a more accurate reflection of the wider membership when the party’s group structure “really functioned”.

“But now some delegates have more been the subject of lobbying – and some people say inducement – rather than really representing the views of members. So, therefore, in order to protect the democracy, the best thing to do is to open it wide and let the people have a say,” Campbell said.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com