THE EXPLOSIVE PSA Vs CPO SHOWDOWN: WHO REALLY BLOCKING YOUR CHRISTMAS 10%?

The Christmas Promise vs The Pay-Slip Reality

The PSA vs CPO battle has officially turned into the kind of December drama that even TV6 couldn’t script. Somewhere between the Finance Minister promising a shiny 10% wage increase + backpay and Christmas shopping starting, public servants now find themselves trapped in a tug-of-war between PSA President Felisha and Chief Personnel Officer Daryl Dindial — and neither side seems to be moving with the urgency of anybody who has to buy ham, pepper, and Parang tickets.

Felisha has already christened the CPO the “Chief Personnel Obstructionist”, while Dindial insists he simply wants to do another “state of the economy” presentation before the real talks start. Translation: two adults in suits arguing about PowerPoints while workers counting coins in the grocery aisle.

Public servants didn’t ask for this academic rivalry. They asked for money. Before Christmas. Preferably with a bow.

PSA vs CPO: A Battle Years in the Making

If you ask Felisha, wage negotiations started in April 2022. If you ask the CPO, negotiations start when he says they start — which apparently is late November, after Finance Ministry technocrats finish their lecture on “why $100 can’t buy anything again.”

Here’s the barebones breakdown:

2022: Government offers 4%. PSA says “try again.”
2025 Budget: New government, new vibes. Finance Minister announces a revised 10% offer — suddenly everybody hopeful.
October 2025: Felisha tells PSA members they are aiming to “settle and pay before Christmas.”
November 2025: CPO says, hold up, let’s do a fresh economic briefing first. Felisha says, “stalling tactic.” CPO says, “professional process.”
Public servants: “Just run the money.”

It’s the kind of bureaucratic back-and-forth that could only happen in Trinidad — a place where a man will argue with you for ten minutes before admitting he had the wrong address the whole time.

“You can’t swipe a Facebook Live in Massy. The PSA vs CPO fight nice — but public officers want cash, not content.”

The Chief Personnel Obstructionist vs The Chief Presentation Officer

Felisha swung first, accusing the CPO of presenting the second “state of the economy” slideshow as a stall tactic. In her words, the CPO’s behaviour “raises real questions about whether he was mandated to block 10% and backpay before Christmas.”

It’s a strong claim — and she doubled down with her viral video asking, “Who is standing in the way of your backpay?” The internet did what the internet always does: it ran with the nickname “Chief Personnel Obstructionist.”

Dindial’s reply?
He almost said, “Ma’am, relax.”

Instead he claimed:

The timeline hasn’t changed.
The PowerPoint is normal procedure.
The PSA should want updated economic data.
Negotiations will start soon.

For clarity, the CPO posted his own detailed explanation of the negotiation process here:
👉 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19sqCQVRzH/(External link)

So now we have one side shouting “stalling!” and the other side shouting “process!” like two presenters fighting over who gets the HDMI cable.

The Politics Behind the Paycheque

Here’s the part nobody wants to say out loud:
This 10% isn’t just a wage increase. It’s a political promise with a Christmas countdown strapped to it.

Just last month, Felisha was photographed hugging the Labour Minister outside Parliament after the Budget announcement — the same Budget where the government declared “everybody winning.”
To refresh your political memory:
https://www.trinilulz.com/tt-budget-2026-when-unc-wins-everybody-wins-gas-down-jobs-up-and-plenty-promises-inside/

On top of that, she recently had to deny that a $100M payout to PSA workers was political favour-giving.
So now when she turns around and calls out the CPO, it feels like a government–union love story gone complicated.

Meanwhile, the CPO is in a different movie altogether — “Accountants Gone Wild: Fiscal Responsibility Edition.”

The mismatch is glaring.

“The PSA vs CPO bacchanal looking like a new Carnival band: Big Promises, Late Paperwork & Backpay Delay.”

What 10% and Backpay Really Mean — In Real World Dollars

Forget the political theatre. The 10% matters because:

It covers 2014–2016 and 2017–2019 — years when wages froze but prices didn’t.
Rent jumped.
Food jumped.
Taxi fare jumped twice for fun.
Inflation was doing gymnastics.

This money isn’t “free Christmas money.” It’s long-delayed earnings that never kept up with the real world.

So when workers hear “10% before Christmas,” they hear:

School books
An extra grocery run
A light bill that doesn’t have to be negotiated
A Christmas tree that isn’t leaning because they bought it used

The emotional weight is real.

Who Will Workers Blame if Christmas Comes and No Money Reach?

If December 25th arrives and the bank accounts still looking like a desert at high noon… who getting the blame?

Felisha, for over-promising?
The CPO, for defending procedure like a man holding the last doubles?
Cabinet, for making big Budget announcements without confirming whether the machinery could deliver?

The likely answer?
All of the above.

Because right now, the PSA vs CPO showdown feels less like a negotiation and more like a local mini-series: Plenty Talk, Little Deposit.

So… Who Really Blocking the 10%?

The truth is inconvenient but necessary:
Both sides want to win the public narrative more than they want to admit. Felisha wants to protect her members. The CPO wants to protect the Treasury. The Government wants to protect the optics.

And public servants?
They just want to protect their wallets.

At the end of the day, the real villain might not be Felisha or Dindial — it might be the slow, dusty, bureaucratic machinery of the State.

But until your payslip reflect that 10% plus backpay, this PSA vs CPO war isn’t about workers at all.

It’s about control of the message.

Money, meanwhile, does not have a message.
It either reaches… or it doesn’t.

This story is part of our wider Trinidad Politics Explained coverage. Explore the full hub for political analysis, key background, major controversies, and the latest updates.