NUPW ups ante on QEH guards’ dismissal

Industrial unrest is said to be simmering at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in a dispute involving four unionized security guards, as the island’s largest public sector union dangled the prospect of an escalation in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis.

The sticking point is what the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) has said is the whimsical termination of the guards who were on probation.

NUPW Acting General Secretary Wayne Walrond said a union delegation is to meet with QEH management on Friday at 4 p.m. to demand the immediate reinstatement of the security officers.

Walrond told Barbados TODAY: “They are not happy that the process was fair and transparent in terms of using the probationary clause to terminate their services. They are saying that in terms of performance, the appraisal system should be applied in a developmental and objective way and not be a punitive and subjective tool.

“In other words, if you come on probation, one would expect that if there are any shortcomings, you would be given the necessary support and remedial action. And over an extended period of time, through a fair and transparent process you would be fully aware if you fall short of the situation.”

He described as bewildering the way in which the guards are being treated in comparison to the rest of the hospital staff.

“What is puzzling too in this development is that there are complaints the security team is being managed differently to the civilian staff,” said Walrond.

“While the civilian staff has full HR recourse to their appraisal system and the opportunity to have an input in their appraisal process if there are any challenges, the security department has a separate and distinct approach.”

The union boss said the impression being conveyed to the security officers is that the arrangement is more like a military-style process.

“We want the reinstatement of these security officers pending our discussions on the matter to see if we can come to an agreement. We are not happy that the dismissals were above board or fair and transparent. To me it is whimsical,” Walrond told Barbados TODAY.

He is also calling on the human resources department to keep a close eye on the management of the performance appraisal process for these officers to ensure it synchronizes with what they expect in terms of how their staff is treated.

“It seems that department is not synchronizing with how the QEH usually functions and therefore there is a difficulty that the workers are facing,” he added.

“We hope that it would not escalate, but it is potential industrial unrest given the termination of the officers.  It is rumoured that there are five more to go. That is yet to be confirmed.”

Walrond also indicated that the union would be seeking to get to the bottom of allegations that the officers’ termination was linked to their unionized membership.

“We will treat it as allegations, but if proven to be true that would be a violation of the Trade Union Act and the workers’ constitutional right of freedom of association,” he stated.

The union leader also reported that the workers are unclear as to exactly why they were dismissed.

When Barbados TODAY reached out to QEH Chief Operations Officer Louise Bobb, she declined to comment, stating that management would first want to meet with the union on Friday to discuss the matter.

“I can’t give that [comment] yet,” Bobb said. “We have a meeting tomorrow and when we have settled on the way forward then I would issue a statement. I cannot speak at this moment.”

(emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)