Nurses standing firm as strike action continues to threaten the national vaccine programme

Public health officials appear to be fighting a losing battle against dozens of nurses, who, even after threats of salary cuts from Prime Minister Mia Mottley, are standing their ground and staying off of the job.

Co-coordinator of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Dr Elizabeth Ferdinand on Friday revealed that although the remaining workers were “trying as best as we can”, it appeared the numbers were dwindling even further.

“It seems that more have stayed home to me, I don’t know, I might be wrong, but that’s my impression,” Dr Ferdinand told Barbados TODAY.

“The [vaccination] centres that we said we were going to be opening are open and some of the public are coming up. It wasn’t as busy as usual, but the staff were present… and we are trying to manage as best as we can,” added the public health official.

As the contentious week of fiery retorts continued, the Prime Minister took further aim at the strike supporters during a 10-minute statement in which she denounced the actions of General Secretary of the Unity Workers’ Union (UWU) Caswell Franklyn, Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley, and veteran trade unionist Derek Alleyne, who is the General Secretary of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).

Mottley, who apparently has the backing of four leading labour organisations and the expressed written approval of the ruling Barbados Labour Party, accused the trio of placing lives in danger to make a political point.

“Are you really boasting that you have paralyzed the National Vaccination Programme in the middle of a dangerous and deadly with new variants lurking around?” asked Ms Mottley.

“Are you seriously personally satisfied that your actions are preventing your own citizens from getting access to potential life-saving medications when the clear evidence emerging is that this is what protects us against these new variants that are lurking?

Is this really what we have come to in Barbados? This is unbelievable!” the Prime Minister exclaimed.

Her comments follow a statement on Thursday from BLP General Secretary Dr Jerome Walcott, calling on opposition parties to condemn the actions of the UWU. But none of them appears to be budging.

The DLP’s spokesman on health, Andre Worrell, in response beseeched the administration to address the nurses’ concerns instead of throwing fuel on the proverbial fire.

Worrell said: “The nurses made it clear that the vaccines alone will not make their work environment safe and that other long-standing issues needed to be addressed.  Among these are the payment of Hazard pay and allocation of adequate  PPE to nurses including those at the Polyclinics and not just the ones at the isolation centres.  Other critical issues include the overall safety of the working environment as well as the cleanliness of the working environment with increasing incidents of bed bugs in the facilities.  The nurses should be heard and negotiated with in a fair and cordial manner.”

Solutions Barbados is also refusing to bend to the BLP’s pressure. Its President, Grenville Phillips II declared that he would not condemn anyone based solely on accusations from PM Mottley and her supporting organisations.

“If these national groups have condemned our nurses’ strike action without hearing Senator Franklyn’s side, then they have taken Barbados across a dangerous boundary that we should have been trying our best to avoid as a country,” declared Phillips.

“Since the Barbados Labour Party administration is requesting public condemnation of Senator Franklyn, then Senator Franklyn should be offered the same space in the media to publicly defend his position. Only then can the public, including public groups, be capable of rendering a fair judgment,” he added.

The industrial action which started around mid-November with a “quiet sickout”, has quickly evolved into a full-blown strike that will see the pay of striking nurses being docked as Christmas swiftly approaches. Whilst Mottley has suggested that the number of striking nurses is less than 40, Senator Franklyn is adamant that such a low turnout was unlikely to have such a meaningful impact on the local healthcare system.

Bishop Atherley has described the PM’s assertions as an insult to the intelligence of Barbadians and accused her of attempting to mount a political platform around issues of patient care and health.

In the meantime, Dr Ferdinand, a former Chief Medical Officer has pledged, despite the turmoil around, to move forward with vaccinations that have fallen almost 50 per cent attributed to the industrial action.

“We as public health specialists, I feel, have to be very responsible, more so at this time and to give of our best,” said Dr Ferdinand.

“We know that these are trying times and that there are a lot of other personal problems, but I think we have to put the health of the public ahead of finances and other things. I want to salute those who have worked and who are continuing to work, but I understand the problems.

“We have to go on. This is a national crisis. We have to make sure our population is safe from this virus,” she added.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb