Board seat no benefit to workers

Outspoken trade unionist Caswell Franklyn is not impressed with Minister of Health and Wellness Ian Gooding-Edghill’s announcement that a representative of the Congress of Trade Union and Staff Association of Barbados (CTUSAB) will sit on the board of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

The General Secretary of the Unity Workers’ Union (UWU) said he is not convinced that the presence of a member of the labour movement on the QEH board will do much to resolve the industrial matters affecting nurses, several of whom went on strike between late 2021 and 2022. UWU has a nurses’ division;

“Putting CTUSAB or any union people on the QEH board serves one purpose. It is to give those people a little stipend. It is a little extra money in your pocket so you could buy gas and of course you get a little trip ever so often. I am not convinced it has anything to do with protecting the workers’ interest. They do nothing for the good of the workers that they are supposed to be representing. CTUSAB had a union representative prior to this present administration and have they done anything for the workers so far?” he said.

On Tuesday, while speaking on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Amendment) Bill 2022, Gooding-Edghill said the Government saw it necessary to have a representative from CTUSAB sit on the board to give advice and guidance regarding how the state-owned healthcare facility manages industrial relations matters. He said amendments were also being made to allow the QEH board to have 15 members instead of 13.

However, Franklyn said he believes that the practice and history of appointing persons to boards is to silence the unions.

“There is nothing positive about having CTUSAB on any board. Even though CTUSAB was negotiating on behalf of the Barbados Nurses’ Association (BNA) when they were on the hospital board, nothing positive has happened for nurses. The nurses’ issues have been going on for over a decade.

“They go on the boards, collect a stipend and eat the snacks after the meeting. Workers don’t benefit from the union being on the board. The only person benefiting from the board is the actual person on the board. That is why they want to be on boards, they want to be in the Senate, they want to be in everything, because you get a little stipend – a $500 here, a $1400. You would be surprised at how much money you would get at the end of the time from all these boards. This has nothing to do with workers, it is for the person who got the position. It is about personal gains and getting to ‘hobnob’ with the ministers,” Franklyn said. (AH)