Two of the island’s largest trade unions along with the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) have thrown their support behind the reform of the National Insurance Fund.
General secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Richard Green; general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) Toni Moore and chairman of the BPSA Trisha Tannis, all agree that there is a need for a more stable and sustainable fund.
Speaking during a press conference at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre after it was revealed that the fund was in danger of being depleted within the next 12 to 19 years, Green said the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) needed to be revitalized.
He revealed that the fastest growing division in the NUPW was the retirees division.
“What our members need is a reliable and sustainable and a stable NIS Fund and a total social security platform. Our beneficiaries need to feel confident that in their time of need the NIS will be there for them and be there for their children as well.
“So we support the sustainable development of the society and economy to make this economy stronger, to make the NIS stronger and of course for greater prosperity and security for our constituents and our society as a whole,” Green said.
He also acknowledged that the concept of retirement needed to change to better reflect today’s reality.
Moore lauded the Government for not waiting until it was “too late” to address the worrying situation.
She said very often it was during times of crises that changes had to be made.
“It is remarkable for us that our country is one that is exemplar, not waiting until a situation inflates out of our control, where the responses are not responses that we can shape. But we are taking action to ensure that changes can be implemented and be graduated in a way that the equity that everyone has spoken about that is so necessary, now is achieved,” Moore said.
“The presentations that we have received show for instance that if action is not taken… it means that people like me will be compromised. Hearing that a possibility exists that a fund and all of its benefits might not extend to people who are 55 and less, that places me and places anybody of that age in a position where we have to consider the urgency of it.”
Meanwhile, Tannis said the situation merited “a call to action”.
She agreed that the current structure of the NIS and the fund was simply not sustainable despite having increased contribution rates, the retirement age and the ceiling of insurable earnings.
“Clearly the design of the structure of the fund is not one that is sustainable and that was borne out by the fact that by 2011, notwithstanding those reform measures that were taken in 2003 to 2006, we were practically back to square one and then essentially we went into a decades-long recessionary type environment and that was before COVID and the rest is history.
“We therefore endorse the fact that the design of the plan must capture our collective urgent attention because it is clear that it is extremely vulnerable in its design and we would not want to have to pass this way again. Therefore we support the fact that we need to do it right the second time,” Tannis pointed out.
