Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) has said public officials should follow the proper channels to address grievances. Photo: Government of the Virgin Islands

Public Officers are allegedly planning to boycott Public Service Week 2025. Photo: Facebook

Premier Wheatley said this while responding to a question during a press conference today, Friday, October 3, 2025, where he was asked about an alleged planned “boycott” by public officers due to the increase in salaries for House of Assembly members. 

The salary increase was disclosed in the 2024 Audit Report, which showed an over 100 per cent increase for HoA members across the board. 

Go through the proper channels

According to the media personnel who posed the question to Premier Wheatley, the planned boycott by “disgruntled” public officers is for the upcoming Public Service Week next week, October 5 to 10, 2025, due to unfair raises across the civil service, the handling of the review, and information that has surfaced from the Auditor General’s report. 

“I am unaware of a boycott. Certainly, I think if any member of the public service has a specific grievance, they should write, in my view, to the Deputy Governor’s office and even myself, as it pertains to any particular issue that they might be disgruntled with.”

He reminded that the terms and conditions of employment with the public service falls under the Governor’s portfolio that has traditionally been delegated to the Deputy Governor’s Office and the Deputy Governor’s Office. 

“The Deputy Governor’s Office led a transparent process as it pertained to the salary review, and they engaged the services of PWC. There were many stakeholder consultations with the public service, and if persons are not pleased with the process, certainly they need to go through the proper channels to be able to communicate that.”

Auditor’s report provided clarity 

Premier Wheatley said as Minister of Finance, around 30 million dollars has been made available for the increase. 

“Because we knew that many persons in the public service were not being compensated adequately, and we could not tolerate a situation where persons were making below what was considered a living wage.”

Dr Wheatley added that he thinks the Auditor General’s Report provided “great clarity” in terms of some of the deficient areas in the process, in particular, providing both the Cabinet and House of Assembly with all the necessary information regarding how much the salary adjustments would cost. 

“And certainly, there is a level of accountability that has to take place as to as it relates to those particular failings, and it must be acknowledged.”