Employees of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority got a little something extra with their paychecks last week, and it wasn't a bonus.
Enclosed with their pay was a three-page letter from the recently formed WAPA Buy-Out Committee asking workers to support the committee and to chip in $100 of their earnings "to assist us in the financial backing of reputable consultants."
The letter was signed by Hubert Turnbull, chairman of the committee and president of the WAPA Employees Association. Turnbull and committee co-chair Gerald Hodge Jr. both testified at Senate hearings in August against the proposed sale of 80 percent of WAPA to Southern Energy Inc.
The Legislature voted 9-6 to reject the sale.
The letter touts the benefits of an employee stock-ownership plan and enumerates how employees typically acquire stock.
According to the letter, the committee has chosen Shay Kimble Consulting Group Inc., Praxis Consulting Group and the financial firm of Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin "to help the employees to attain control of their working destinies."
The last page is an authorization form in which WAPA employees can request that $100 be deducted from forthcoming paychecks, in up to four installments.