Striking nurses being represented by the Unity Workers Union (UWU) remain off the job even after meeting with Minister of Health Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic on Thursday.
UWU General Secretary Senator Caswell Franklyn told Barbados TODAY that the minister listened to the concerns of the nurses who began industrial action last Saturday after nurses at the Geriatric Hospital received a memo from the hospital management the day before informing them of the commencement of weekly testing for unvaccinated employees in accordance with the Safe Zone Directive No. 2, 2021.
Minister Bostic, who on Monday explained that the memo had been prematurely sent, could not be reached today. However, Franklyn, who attended the meeting, said the minister empathized with the nurses and gave the assurance that he would brief Cabinet on their concerns and views.
“He said he was going back to Cabinet because Cabinet was still meeting and that he was going to report to the Cabinet what his understanding of the situation is and move from there.
“I really can’t trust the civil servants though. The civil servants in the Ministry of Health, I can’t really trust them to brief Bostic because a lot of the grievances are caused by them,” Franklyn said.
Senator Franklyn said that while Bostic did not say exactly when he would be able to return to the nurses with solutions, the nurses will continue to take industrial action, which he said may now be the longest strike since the 1970s.
“There is no solution. We are waiting for the Government to get back to us. The nurses are still on strike and then more people are joining the union. I processed some people who applied to the union today. As a matter of fact, we are getting people from the QEH now. The nurses down there are hopping mad too,” the union leader said.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health announced changes to the operations of three polyclinics and a COVID-19 vaccination centre as a result of nurses calling in sick that day.
Senator Franklyn said, from the reports he has been receiving, the ongoing strike continues to cause disruptions at the healthcare facilities, particularly the polyclinics.
“But the nurses are not going back to the abuse that they were suffering all along. And some of them have even said to me that they are prepared to walk away from the nursing profession if they have to endure these conditions any longer. They have reached that stage,” he said.
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)
