#COVIDDispatch- Vaccine and testing policy for tourism workers, others

Barbadian business owners and managers are under severe stress trying to keep businesses operating. And the possibility that their actions could lead to sickness and/or death of employees is something that weighs heavily on them.

Moreover, a representative for employers has rejected any suggestion that bosses were operating without care for their employees during the pandemic.

Sheena Mayers-Granville, the executive director of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC), has told COVID Dispatch the mental health strain placed on bosses for almost two years by the COVID-19 pandemic has been immense.

And against a backdrop of threatened protests and boycotts, a raging and divisive debate over the vaccination of workers, coupled with a very difficult business environment, Mayers-Granville said the situation has been tense.

Adding to the uncertainty of the current economic environment where many small businesses have folded and a cross-section of other enterprises are operating with significantly reduced revenue, Mayers-Granville said many employers were looking forward to a promising tourism season.

Those hopes, however, appear to be fading quickly, with the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Associating indicating that many visitors are cancelling their bookings, while some 2,000 people are in isolation facilities with COVID-19 infections.  

“The reality is there has been tremendous strain placed on employers considering the human impact. Employers are struggling to maintain employment as much as possible and to maintain a safe workspace . . . . The mental health strain has been enormous on both workers and management.”

Mayers-Granville added: “The business community was eagerly anticipating an improved winter season, and the fact that this is now uncertain is very concerning.” 

The experienced human resources and industrial relations specialist was quite frank about what employers were experiencing as they tried to keep their businesses operating through one of the most chaotic times in recent history.

Two COVID deaths per day

“No employer in Barbados wants to feel as though they have contributed in any way to an employee dying, and what we are seeing now is that unvaccinated persons are dying.

“Our rate [of death] is now two per day and when we have these discussions on how we respond to COVID-19, while there is immense pressure on businesses to stay open, immense pressure on managers to manage throughout the pandemic with all of the variables being thrown our way, there is also that immense pressure to have your workplace as safe as possible because you do not want to think about contributing to someone being severely ill or some person succumbing to the disease,” the BEC boss explained.

The temperature of the industrial relations climate has been raised significantly during the pandemic and more so following the decision by some businesses to institute vaccination and testing policies for employees.

Automotive Art, a locally-based but international franchise company, has introduced a strict policy that only vaccinated third-party vendors will be allowed in its offices.

Richard Ashby, chief executive officer of Lionel C Hill Supermarket and manufacturing facility, has insisted that all employees must be vaccinated, or they will face termination. He has reported that only one of the near 100 workers remains unvaccinated.

Telecommunications company Digicel, and regional fuel supplier Rubis, have also introduced policies requiring employees to be vaccinated or undergo frequent PCR testing for COVID-19.

But the BEC senior official countered: “I know there is a general debate going on . . . . Any discussion on vaccines, and any discussion on COVID-19 response, any discussion on testing, from an employer perspective, starts from trying to protect their workers.”

High-risk sectors

 As COVID-19 infections explode on the island after being relatively well-managed for more than a year, Mayers-Granville said local employers desperately needed a firm policy stance, from Government, on the matter of testing and vaccinations in the workplace.

She said this was most urgent for sectors where employees are at much greater risk of exposure to the disease because of the nature of their work.

“The BEC in conjunction with the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) conducted a survey of the business community, and 73 per cent of employers believe that Barbados should have a national policy on COVID-19 vaccinations, and they also believe that there are some sectors that are more critical to having vaccine and testing policies and these include the areas that would be considered high-risk.

“We see direct tourism services, healthcare and childcare being highlighted as areas where they thought the sectors needed to have vaccine and testing policies. It was most important for those sectors.”

When it came to the matter of a national shutdown as a way of quickly reducing the disease infection rate, the BEC head reasoned that this was now “impractical” given the pervasive community spread that existed.

The BEC head reasoned: “Given the current state of spread, eradication strategies are impractical. Therefore, we will have the virus with us [and we will have to] learn to live and manage.

“What we do know is that vaccinations work. If we look at who has experienced severe disease and who has died it is, by far, the unvaccinated persons.

“Our call has been for a risk-based approach to managing vaccination and testing policies. We recognise that all employees and customers do not operate in a single space, and some are more susceptible to catching and transmitting COVID-19. Therefore, the response should be proportionate to the risk.”

 This article appears in the October 8 edition of COVID Dispatch. Read the full publication here.