Public service credit union members want full compliance with court order for special meeting

Members of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) are concerned that its committee of management will not comply with the recent court order to hold a special general meeting (SGM) on or before October 24th.

Last month, High Court Judge Navindra Singh declared that members of the GPSCCU were entitled to demand a special general meeting and refuted arguments of the union’s management committee that the request constituted a dispute. The case involved three members of the GPSCCU who had petitioned the Court for declarations that Trevor Benn and Patrick Mentore were the credit union’s duly elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman, and that a Special General Meeting of Members which had been scheduled for June 25th, 2022 be allowed.

After seeking to remove Benn, the management committee itself came under pressure when over 375 members moved for the removal of the entire body and the announcement of new elections within 14 days. That number had increased to nearly 2,000. The committee and its members have been at loggerheads over a No-Confidence Motion the committee said it brought against Benn.

Concerns that the committee of management might not comply with the court order arise from the lack of communication with applicants as well as members having not receiving any details of the SGM despite having requested same from the committee through vice-chairman Mentore. However, none was communicated. The SGM has been announced for October 24th, a national holiday for the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali.

Following this, the applicants wrote a letter to the acting chairwoman Karen Van Sluytman-Corbin emphasizing on the court ruling and noting that the notice must reflect that of the Annual General meeting in that it must be published in a national newspaper and must include the agenda.

“It has been two weeks since the honourable justice Navindra Singh delivered his judgement and less than two weeks to the day of the SGM as contemplated by the order of the court,” the applicants stated in the letter.

They made a request that details of the plans and arrangements be put in place pursuant to the court order and that the committee confirm that the place determined as the venue for the SGM is approved. The applicants also requested that all in-person and online arrangements be put in place for the SGM.

The letter was read at a press conference on Monday, where GPSCCU member John Anderson stated, “members are now concerned that their rights to a right to a free, fair and transparent process may not be realized.” He noted that this is evident from the chairwoman’s refusal of the letter from the applicants the first two times it was presented.

“We are also concerned about the state of affairs at the credit union. Our members are complaining bitterly about the long hours it now takes to do a simple transaction that would ordinarily taken a day,” he noted. They are also concerned about the abrupt withdrawal of the vehicle loans and mortgages as well as the multiple reasons the committee is offering for the withdrawals.

“We have also been bombarded with inquiries about the frequent travels (of) the committee of management and the absence of any reports upon their return. Members are interested in finding out the true costs associated with these travels. Another concern is that the committee of management has racked up millions of dollars in legal fees to fight the case that members reluctantly brought against its management,” he said.

According to members, they decided to go to court after their calls for a meeting to discuss concerns of members went unheard by the committee.