Mary Isaac Quitting CSA…Maybe By Next Week

MARY Isaac will soon quit the Civil Service Association (CSA), maybe as early as next week.

But while this may cause members of the CSA opposed to her to rejoice, it may not end the long running dispute within the Association since it now engulfs not just her but the entire executive.

The dispute may intensify now that Isaac has decided not to post notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting which was called for earlier this month by over 500 members said to have signed a petition just for that purpose.

This means that the meeting will not be held, a point Isaac confirmed Tuesday in an exclusive interview with The VOICE.

Earlier this month a group called “Save Our Union Team” warned of legal consequences if Isaac, as acting general secretary, did not adhere to the petition calling for an Extraordinary General Meeting.

But that petition is now generating much controversy because of assertions by some members who signed it that they did not affix their signatures to remove Isaac and the entire executive of the CSA, which was the purpose of the petition. They claimed that they were unaware of the petition’s intent.

These assertions, and the opinion of an attorney, which the executive had sought are the core reasons why the decision not to hold the Extraordinary General Meeting was taken.

“We have some members who wrote us saying that they did not sign the petition to remove the executive. We also got a legal opinion on the matter and the lawyer told us that given what is happening right now, meaning the workers who wrote saying that they did not sign the petition with the intention to remove the executive, we took the decision to put the meeting on hold,” Isaac said.

“We have put that on hold because of the lawyer’s opinion. So there will not be a meeting. The legal opinion said given that we have workers who are saying that they did not sign any petition to remove the executive then we ought not to have the meeting,” Isaac said.

She may not be in the CSA to deal with whatever backlash this decision may generate since her wish is to be out, hopefully, by next week.

“Officially I am supposed to be out by June 30, 2015. They (CSA) do not have a general secretary as yet so I may well have to extend it (her stay),” Isaac said, so that she can attend to work that needs completing.

Isaac’s five year tenure in the CSA has been a controversial one of late, as members opposed to her made several failed attempts to oust her as president.

A two term president of the CSA, Isaac shot to national attention when she first objected to a request by government to adjust salaries of public sector workers downwards by five percent.

Her stance and fiery comments against that move endeared her to the majority of CSA members who returned her to the presidency by a large margin in April of last year, winning with 886 votes to 313 polled by her closest rival.

Armed with this massive new mandate Isaac became even more deviant of the government’s request, boycotting planned meetings between the government negotiating team and her union if the pay cut request was an item on the agenda.

However her defiant approach to government spilled over into her acceptance of a senatorial position with the opposition United Workers Party late last year. This ignited a firestorm within her union with many of its members objecting to the move.