Bostic ready to talk, but nurses must return to work first

Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic has once again expressed a willingness to meet with embattled nurses to end nearly three weeks of industrial action.

However, he has hinted that such discussions cannot take place whilst nurses are off the job. His comments came hours after a press conference in which he underscored the need for trade unions to adhere to acceptable procedures.

Ongoing strike action involving nurses aligned with the Unity Workers’ Union (UWU) continued on Tuesday despite a number of promised reforms the day before from Minister Bostic that align with the union’s requests.

But UWU General Secretary, Senator Caswell Franklyn said that the promises, which were made to the Barbados Nurses’ Association, were too vague and without definitive timelines for which authorities could be held accountable.

“Our nurses are still on strike and they will remain on strike until the government and the Unity Workers’ Union sit down and come to some form of agreement,” Franklyn declared.

In the meantime, the country’s largest public sector union, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) has reported progress on numerous issues, including hazard pay, which workers say nurses will be paid retroactively from June, 2021.

On Tuesday afternoon, Minister Bostic told Barbados TODAY that numerous sitdowns were planned in the coming days, but none of the meetings involved the UWU.

“There are quarterly meetings with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Barbados Nurses’ Association [and] monthly meetings between hospital heads, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Geriatric and Psychiatric. Similarly, the Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Public Health Nurse and Director of Nursing, QEH,” the minister added.

“So none are planned with the UWU on their persisting strike?” Bostic was asked. “Can’t meet if they are striking,” the health minister replied.

At Monday’s press conference Bostic said he was open to further dialogue “as long as we follow the processes and procedures that are established and a proper request is made”.

“These are matters, some of them, dating back decades. There are some issues that when we assumed office and I became Minister of Health and Wellness that I recognised as issues,” said Bostic.

“And, since then, we have embarked on a programme to try to address as many programmes as we can and that is why we were able to do some of the things that were being requested by the unions and the nurses,” he added.

At the press conference, the BNA urged the striking nurses to get back to work contending that most of the issues negotiated by them were shared concerns of the UWU.

The reforms address appointments, uniform allowances, specialised training, late and sporadic pay and environmental conditions.

Senator Franklyn, on the other hand, has expressed no confidence in the BNA’s ability to negotiate industrial relations issues on Unity’s behalf, accusing them of “doing their master’s bidding”.

“My understanding is that they did not understand what they agreed to, because they agreed to headings and not details,”
Franklyn declared on the Voice of Barbados.

“The nurses’ association is no better off and if they had agreed on the substance of our concerns I wouldn’t even mind so much, because I don’t care who gets the credit. But the nurses’ association agreed to headings, not details, so the nurses are not going to benefit.

“Their lives have not been changed one way or the other. They have promises, and there’s no timeline in which to fulfill those promises. “They were not representing the nurses who pay them. It is shameful, to tell you the truth,” the Unity’s General Secretary added.

The NUPW, however, revealed that it has also been making progress with the implementation of safe zones in the healthcare sector in recent meetings with Attorney General Dale Marshall.

“The National Union of Public Workers reaffirms that it will continue to represent the nurses and other employees in the health sector through the consultative process which is accepted and practiced, for the resolution of all grievances and matters of concern for its members,” the union added.

kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb