Irony – and industrial action – strikes at NUPW

Akanni McDowall is once again defending his leadership of the country’s largest public sector trade union over an alleged blunder on his part that ironically triggered industrial action at the union on Wednesday.

Workers at the National Union of Public Workers’ Horatio Cooke Complex, including acting General Secretary Wayne Waldron, walked off the job claiming that McDowall’s failure to sign cheques ahead of payday resulted in late payments.

The embattled union president dismissed the claims as “totally untrue”, attributing it to opposition strategies from his challengers ahead of the union’s executive elections.

On Wednesday morning, Waldron revealed that on Tuesday he had indicated to McDowall via Whatsapp message that the cheques were prepared and ready to be signed to which he received no response.

While Waldron acknowledged that the union messenger would deliver the cheques to the president from time to time to avoid such delays, he said it is the president’s responsibility to ensure his duties are completed.

He added that it was never the union’s intention to bring such issues into the public domain, but said Wednesday’s events were the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

When asked how often the situation occurs, Waldron replied: “I wouldn’t want to say but read between the lines. This is the straw that broke the camel’s back. From time to time, we have this issue and you cannot appear to be beseeching. This is a fiduciary duty of both the president and the general treasury in terms of their functions.”

The acting general secretary then played down the notion that the issue was an embarrassment to the trade union but said that like any other organisation, industrial relations issues arise. While he further acknowledged that payday had not expired before the monies were paid, Waldron argued that the money should be delivered by midnight on payday as is the custom in the public sector.

When contacted, McDowall dismissed Waldron’s claims as “absolutely not true”.

“Cheques are signed on Wednesday, which is today and as president, I would have implemented a policy that wages and salaries should be prepared a week in advance for those who are weekly and a month for those who are monthly so that cheques are always pre-signed,” McDowall told Barbados TODAY.

The union president said that he was on his way to sign when he received a call from his general secretary.

“Staff is hard working and qualified and appreciated,” he said. “Unfortunately, the miscommunication is being used to disadvantage the very employees they claim they want to represent. This is not my first election and certainly, this is not my style and I will continue to advocate for the members of the NUPW.”

McDowall added that the unfortunate occurrence underscored the need to move to an online system of payment, which he claims he has been advocating for some time.

“I think everybody should be able to have their cheques or their monies sent to the bank and then they can take off those sums from the bank whenever they desire, rather than having to wait until somebody comes every week to sign a cheque before it is given to the staff,” McDowall added. (KS)