The Post Office Board are they 'up to the task' asks Terry

Postal Workers Union Official Terry Pullinger has issued a fairly caustic denunciation of the Post Office Board - here’s a clip the full interview apparently is on Mandate:

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/post-office-boards-crede...

He asks if ‘they are up to the task’ it's a question that could have a wider airing as the Island lurches from crisis to crisis.

So who are the PO Board? Well of course two are political appointees one an elected MHK and the other a recently appointed MLC. The other three are ‘worthies’ from the business fraternity. Here’s the list:

Julie Edge MHK Chairman
Tanya August-Hanson MLCVice Chair

John Hollis Board Member
Christopher Mitchell Board Member
Jane O'Rourke Board Member

Here’s the link to the Tynwald blurb when they were appointed:

http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/opqp/sittings/Tynwald%2020162018/IOMP...

Reading the background it seems leaving aside the politicos where you might think longevity of service should be a factor the Board rank and file are members of what I would term ‘the great and good’.

The one thing I did find eyebrow raising was that from the Tynwald link above there were seventeen applications of whom six were interviewed no detail on the process.

There’s a perception of curse that having a ‘wealth of business acumen’ on these bodies ensures that they operate smoothly and diligently, However that certainly was not the case at the old MEA - remember that we are still picking up the pieces!

Now it's obviously in Mr Pullingers interest to deploy whatever weapons he can to defend his members interests and perhaps when I was an OLD Union official I would have done the same without being as diplomatic.

However he shines a useful light on how the membership of such quangos is determined and if they are fit for purpose. Surely it's time the Island embraced more modern values and such bodies should not simply be compromised of a couple of politicos and a few of the ‘gentry’ wanting to fill their spare time!

Bernard Moffatt