Alvin St. John

Executive Director of the Public Workers Union (PWU), Alvin St. John has been forced to resign his post.

Informed sources told GRENADA TODAY that St. John was given an ultimatum a few weeks ago from the Executive of the union to either submit a letter of resignation or face the prospect of being fired from the post over the "inappropriate" handling of the funds of the union.

A source who spoke on condition that she was not named said that union Leader, Madonna Harford was adamant that the Executive Director had to bow out in light of a previous reprieve for a similar offence a few years ago.

It was alleged then that St. John used PWU funds to help pay for the furnishings of an apartment for a close female companion and an agreement was reached for him to pay back a few thousand dollars.
According to the source, this time again, St. John promised to pay back a certain sum of money at issue but the union leadership decided not to accept his offer.

"We just couldn't accept it. When the thing was discovered Alvin was out of the country and as soon as he came back and reported to work the matter was brought to his attention by the union. "He (Alvin) offered an explanation but that was not satisfactory to the union. Apparently, he sensed what was going to happen to him and so he tendered his resignation and left the country a few days later. St. John is believed to be in New York.

The source said that the "inappropriate spending" of the PWU funds by St. John's was first detected a few months ago by Harford who was keeping "a close tab" on the Executive Director apparently without his knowledge. He stated that Harford decided to carry out a more thorough investigation into some of the spending pattern and decided to confront him.

According to the official, the departure of St. John comes at a time when he had about a month remaining to complete his stint on the Public Service Commission (PSC). He said it is possible that the union would ask retired Cabinet Secretary, Marcella David to serve out the remainder of the term.

The source said that the union would have to find a new replacement for St. John and that a former Permanent Secretary might be considered for the post. St. John was said to be earning over $6000.00 a month from his contract with PWU - $3900.00 in salaries, plus $700.00 a month in travelling allowances and $400 for each PSC meeting that he attended.