By President on
Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:25:59 GMT
Life often presents us with situations that we seldom plan for despite the presence of indicators that suggest action is needed. Thinking back over the years, I recall hearing many alerts about hurricanes in the Atlantic poised to strike, but never having our territory or our way of life interrupted by them. It had become normal to disregard the published soundings until hurricane Hugo visited us. That event changed our response to one of taking heed as the words of warning were broadcast.
Contemplating the unthinkable is not what any of us want to entertain, however it is the responsibility of some individuals to not only think of it, but plan for it as such situations are those that bring us to a place of helplessness and place us at the mercy of others.
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By President on
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 03:43:52 GMT
Dear Colleagues,
I write to you for the last time as your President as I change gears in my professional career and transition from the public sector to the private, effective April 15th, 2011. I would like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU for your support and the privilege to serve in this capacity. I leave the remaining members of the Executive to carry on the mission of the VICSA in representing the interests of all public officers in our conditions of employment with Mr. Stephen McMaster at the helm until Elections later this year.
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By President on
Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:41:08 GMT
In line with VICSA mandate to educate and inform Public Officers of their terms and conditions of service and in response to the questions recently raised on a Public Officer's involvment in a public meeting, please see the relevant clauses from the VI Constitution Order 2007 and the General Orders 1971 (revised 1982). Ignorance of the law is no excuse and to make and informed decision, one needs to have information.
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By President on
Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:04:00 GMT
Recently, I've been reading a book called Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell and came upon the chapter on the Top Ten Reasons People Fail and #6 is An Unwillingness to Change. To illustrate his point of how some people can be so in love with the past that they can't (and don't) deal with the present, a list of The Top Ten Strategies for Dealing with a Dead Horse was outlined.
After I had had a good laugh, because it is funny, I sadly had to admit some it is true about our organization. When we don't deal with problems effectively, firstly by acknowledging that there is a problem, we employ some the same tactics. As one writer put it, “To do the same thing and expect different results is insanity.” The book’s author put it this way, “you don't have to love change to be successful but you need to be willing to accept it. Change is a catalyst for personal growth.” Corporate growth results when there is growth on an individual level. I’ll stop here to give you the list and pick up after…
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By President on
Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:06:56 GMT
Fellow Public Officers,
Below is the letter sent to the Ag. Governor with the proposal of good ideas for policy, projects, and procedural changes made by you concerning methods to cut costs and increase revenue in the public service. Feel free to keep sending your ideas to us via email/website comments or directly to your Permanent Secretary or Head of Department as this is by no means an exhaustive list of what can and should be done to address the growing operational cost of the government.
As we stated in the letter ultimately the Public Service needs to go through some radical changes in order to change to a performance-driven culture and will happen one day at a time with a comprehensive plan that lays out the vision of where we need to be. Let us embrace the change that is indispensable to the success of our territory.
Stay Tuned....
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By President on
Tue, 13 Jul 2010 03:54:32 GMT
This is the second in a series of articles that the VI Civil Service Association (VICSA) is doing to raise the awareness of Public Officers on various employment matters and advocating for improved occupational health and safety conditions. There are many things that we take for granted daily as it relates to the terms and conditions of our employment; one of them being an employee’s right to a clean and safe work environment guaranteed by the Virgin Islands Labour Code and General Orders. The 1975 Labour Code labour policy section stated that “…employment conditions of workers should be those which serve to preserve their health, safety and welfare…” The focus of this article is on indoor air pollution, sick building syndrome and ways to improve indoor air quality. If you missed it, check out our first article that lays foundation for our discussion.
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By President on
Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:39:44 GMT
This is the first in a series of articles that the VI Civil Service Association (VICSA) will be doing to accomplish our strategic goal of raising the awareness of Public Servants on various employment matters and advocating for improved occupational health and safety in the workplace. There are many things that we take for granted daily as it relates to the terms and conditions of our employment; one of them being employees’ right to a clean and safe work environment guaranteed by the Virgin Islands Labour Code and General Orders. The 1975 Labour Code labour policy section stated that “…employment conditions of workers should be those which serve to preserve their health, safety and welfare…”
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By President on
Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:15:07 GMT
The cost of government is a result of us ‘hanging our hats higher than we can reach’; contrary to what our grandparents taught us. Reducing the cost of the public service, not the size of the service, should be the first priority and we can do that through Radical Change. We should not choose the path of least resistance because it is easy.
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By President on
Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:28:37 GMT
The Executive Committee met today (26/03/10) to consider the feedback, both positive & negative, received from Public Officers concerning the process used to make the recommendation of the Public Service Commission representative. As was stated previously in the blog, the General Council (GC), which consists of staff representatives of each ministry and department, is the forum in which the business of the Association is conducted and a decision such as this would have been made. In lieu of the fact that there is not a functioning GC, the Executive Committee looked at a potential list of persons and made a decision accordingly.
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By President on
Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:33:02 GMT
15th March, 2010
Message from the President’s Desk
The VICSA Executive Committee conducted monthly meetings on 2nd February and March 2010 and the highlights from the meeting are as follows:
- Employee Group Health Insurance ...
- Occupational Health & Saftey ....
- General Orders ...
- Public Service Commission Rep. ...
- Social Calendar ...
- Public Relations ...
- Pension Reform ...
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