Party free

Not under my watch!

That was the response of former general secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Roslyn Smith to accusations that the local trade union movement was being heavily influenced by the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP).

During a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) political meeting on Friday night at the St George Secondary School, former NUPW president Walter Maloney and former president of the Police Association and trustee of the Congress of Trade Union and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) Hartley Reid, accused the NUPW and the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) of being in bed with the Government.

But Smith, who was retired by the NUPW in 2019 after working there for 47 years, leading her to bring an unfair dismissal case against the union, has defended her tenure as head of the island’s largest public sector union.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY, she said she was never a member of any political party in Barbados, and during her more than four decades of service, she always fought for the rights of workers.

“He can’t be making reference to me because I belong to no party. Everybody in politics knows that I am not associated with any party; never was and never will be,” Smith said.

“I always told them that my party was the workers’ party, so from Prime Minister [Freundel] Stuart knows. All of them know that I am not tied. I was always a free agent operating on integrity and I had no reason to look back when I had to say anything. He [Maloney] would know exactly who he’s making reference to.”

NUPW president Akanni McDowall also sought to distance himself from Maloney’s claims.

He refuted allegations made by his predecessor that even though the DLP Government had offered more, trade unions had settled for a five per cent pay increase for workers from the Mia Mottley-led administration after initially demanding a 23 per cent hike from the previous government.

In fact, the outspoken McDowall told Barbados TODAY that under the former NUPW administration, nothing had been done when the DLP Government sent home thousands of public workers.

“Clearly, these are baseless accusations as there were no offers made by the last administration, and I have the written evidence of their decision to offer zero per cent. 

“However, if we want to remember what happened in the union under the last administration with the previous leadership of the union, we can take a walk down memory lane and speak about the NCC [National Conservation Commission] workers that were sent home unceremoniously and referred to a tribunal that didn’t exist. Or we can speak about the 5 000 public servants who were similarly sent home with no recourse, and I could go on and on,” McDowall pointed out.

He said the union continued to look after the interests of its members.

“We in the NUPW continue to work for our members and can speak to our accomplishments. Take a look at the flexible arrangement policy which allows workers to work from at home; take a look at the appointments of public servants with three years or more, the largest group ever; take a look at the medical and life insurance that is provided for our members. Take a look at the evidence. It is there for all who would like to see,” the union president maintained.

(randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)