Maloney concerned about political meddling in public service job selection

By Jenique Belgrave

Adamant that political interference is creating issues within the public service’s appointment process, a former union leader believes that strengthening the Public Service Commission could counteract this.

“I think a lot of the issues within the public service are stemming from political interference within the system when it comes to the appointment to certain jobs. This is causing a lot of backlash amongst members of the public service, and that is something that we cannot just push under the carpet,” said former President of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Walter Maloney.

He pointed out that while the Public Service Commission is an independent body, the Public Service Act allows for the minister with responsibility for the Civil Service to be consulted regarding certain appointments.

“The idea then is to strengthen the Public Service Commission, by making it an autonomous body, so that when they’re doing their assessments, decisions on appointments cannot be influenced by anyone having to be consulted when you’re looking at the appointment of heads of departments, permanent and deputy permanent secretaries,” he stated in an interview with Barbados TODAY.

Maloney expressed serious concerns about persons being placed in acting positions for significant periods and then being replaced by others from outside of their department.

“Now with the introduction of contracts, people are coming from outside and being placed in these positions and in some cases, those who were there before might feel that these new people are not as qualified as they are as they don’t have the experience and they are therefore left feeling that is supersession.

“These are things that are happening and this whole contract post is something that is bedevilling the public service and causing a lot of people to feel that they have been marginalised. While they believe that they are the best suited for the position, they are being overlooked, and persons that never worked in the area before, end up being given jobs under contract,” the spokesperson on labour matters for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) said.

He insisted that this can all be addressed if the job selection process is made more transparent.

“When jobs become available, a person must feel like they have a good enough shot of being given that job. Imagine you’re a senior, and a job at the highest level is advertised and a person who is well below you and is your junior applies for the job and suddenly becomes your boss with no one explaining to you why that person was given the job before you. So unions have argued that meritocracy must be the way to go when you are placing persons into positions like that,” he added.

Maloney stressed that issues such as this could be addressed if the public sector had a real appraisal system, which measured productivity within the service and utilised such information as a prerequisite for promotions.

jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb