The daughter of former President of the Public Workers Union (PWU), Lauret Clarkson is planning to follow in the footsteps of her mother and contest the top post at next month’s Annual General Meeting.
Informed union sources told THE NEW TODAY that Beryl-Ann Clarkson intends to put her name on the ballot paper to challenge the outgoing President Brian Grimes, the former officer at the Customs Department in the Ministry of Finance.
Nomination Day for PWU election is set for March 1 and election is due to be held on March 16.
One official said that Clarkson is in the process of putting a document together on the way forward for the union and as part of her preparation for the campaign for the Presidency.
He disclosed that the other person who has expressed an interest in running for the PWU Presidency is a Medical Doctor from the sister isle of Carriacou who operates out of an office in Sauteurs, St Patrick.
The doctor is said to be getting support from a former President of the Union in his bid to try and unseat Grimes.
The former President has also expressed the view that if Clarkson is contesting the top position in the union then support would be shifted to her and for the doctor to contest the position of 1st Vice-President instead.
There are reports that former 1st Vice-President Fimbar Thomas has also declared his hand to run for the PWU top job.
Thomas has reportedly been posting pictures on Facebook with him and new Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell to try and sell himself for the election.
“….People have been commenting that that’s the kind of leadership we want to see,” one union member said of Thomas’ approach.
Grimes who is seeking his second term in office, is expected to face a formidable challenge from Clarkson especially from among rank and file members of the union who have been expressing concerns over the direction of the island’s largest bargaining body for public sector employees.
The PWU boss is believed to have lost significant support among PWU members at the T.A Marryshow Community College (TAMCC) due to allegations that the union was lackadaisical in giving support to protesting workers in their battle to obtain millions owed to them in salary increases.
THE NEW TODAY has not been told of the potential challenger to the controversial Daisy Hazzard, the current Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the union.
In recent weeks, Hazzard who is said to have voted for change in the June 2022 general election, has been making some anti-government postings on her own Facebook page and referring to the NDC regime as anti-worker.