Mr. Moss said Saturday he is taking such action not because he is obligated to, but because of scandalous remarks made against him by union members and certain members of the press, who have charged that he misappropriated union funds.
Mr. Moss said certain union members are feeding lies about him to the press and would do anything to try to bring his character into disrepute. He narrowed the trouble, as he put it, down to two union members who, for political and other reasons, want him to resign.
He said he is trying to remain focus and is actively seeking legal advise to determine how best to deal with the individuals attempting to sully his name by making statements about him without having verifiable evidence to substantiate them.
“Whatever negative claim that they are levying against me, it’s like trying to find a needle in the ocean. And that’s why I’m not paying much attention to what they are saying,” he said.
He said the members most upset about the changes to come to the Water and Sewerage Corporation, involving the discontinuation of promotions without merit and across-the-board salary increases, are the ones who stand to lose most.
“The persons who seem to have a problem with my presidency are obviously the persons who are going to be mostly affected by the inevitable changes that will take place at the Corporation in very short order,” he said.
The union president said the people in question are accustomed to receiving double-digit salary increases on an annual basis without justification.
He also said many of the same union members receiving the substantial salary hikes were given opportunities to further improve their skills at the College of The Bahamas but refused to take advantage of any educational improvement program.
On January 7, the bitterness between the president and the union members came to head when about 30 angry, placard-carrying employees interrupted a press conference called by Mr. Moss.
The protesters called for Moss’ immediate resignation and demanded to see the union’s monthly statements of income and expenditure from December 1991 to November 2003.
They said he was spending the union’s money without proper authorisation and added that when he assumed the presidency in 1992 the organisation had over $36,000 on deposit with 250 members paying $6 a month in union dues. Today, they say, there are over 300 members who pay $25 a month with only about $2,000 left in the bank.
Mr. Moss said the allegations are false and pointed out that the only way he could be removed from the presidency is by a vote and not by force. He said he believes in the rule of law and union members ought to know that he has done nothing contrary to the laws of The Bahamas. On that score, he said he intends to remain in office until the end of his tenure, which expires in one year.
The release of “the books” to union members will include the following:
1. All financial statements for the period of Huedley Moss’ presidency.
2. Financial statements for the period during Moss’ critic’s administration.
3. A listing of loans issued to BUSAWU members and a listing of those members who repaid such loans during Mr. Moss’ presidency.
4. A listing of loans granted by Mr. Moss’ critics to members who have not verifiably repaid such loans.
5. A listing of members who have not repaid their loans to BUSAWU.
6. A listing of loans issued to members and subsequently written off by Mr. Moss’ critics as bad debt.
7. Copies of BUSAWU property payments.
8. Several of BUSAWU property payments.
9. Financial statements of Mr. Moss’ critics for the period between 1991 and 1992 in which Mr. Moss says ‘grossly’ less than the $36,000.00 in bank account was left.
10. A complete report on BUSAWU stakeout
11. A historical report on the responsibility allowances paid to Sundry officers.
By Mindell Small, The Nassau Guardian
