Dear Editor,
I am writing in reference to the response of the PSA chairman when asked what action they would take after they rejected the arbitration process.
Just waiting??? Waiting for what ??? Waiting for the people they supposedly represent to beg for food to feed their children? Waiting for the people they supposedly represent to have their homes and possessions seized by the bank because they have been unable to make payments for the last 6 weeks, or waiting for the people they supposedly represent to realise that they are being used and have been used as a political pawn for the Temo movement?
I had been an avid supporter of the PSA in their cause until this moment, for 6 weeks people have sacrificed for better wages, this week both sides were given the opportunity to put forward their proposal to an independent arbitration and the PSA back down.
Finally the truth has struck, like a knife through the backs of those they supposedly represented.
Why? To quote this paper "We have to elect the cabinet".
Public Servants of Tonga you have been deceived, you thought that the PSA was working for industrial reform, you thought they were working for the people, but all they have done is hold you and the rest of the country hostage to their own demands.
Some here have mentioned the petty act of using a pseudonym as an act of terrorism, but, so what does that make the actions of the PSA?
Public Servants of Tonga, ask yourself when you went on strike, were you striking for the dismisal of the existing government?
To those of you who have never seen a strike before, it may seem like the world is falling around our country, but it is a sign of democratic government, ask the Sydney school children whose teachers strike every four years when an election is due for at the most 7-8% pay increase, or the nurses when they feel that their working conditions are unacceptable. It takes weeks even months to come to a resolution, it's called negotiating.
The objective of a strike is to bring to the foremost attention a groups' plight, not to cripple the nation, not to deprive our children of their rights to learn, and definitely not to insite a coup. This may sound extreme but this is where we are heading with extreme demands from an extremest cause.
To quote another reader "Wake up Tonga and smell the coffee", have a look at the mighty plan the PSA have...waiting.
It is now painstakingly clear...the PSA is not about the welfare of public servants. They are about their own political agenda and have sacrificed the people who believed in them most to make their point.
Very disappointed
S. Lepailuangahau
Sydney
lepailuangahu [at] hotmail [dot] com
