NUPW to press for public servants to be appointed, get pay hikes

The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) will be fighting next year to get Government to scrap contract employment in the public service and increase wages and salaries.

Acting General Secretary Wayne Walrond told Barbados TODAY contract work is creating uncertainty and insecurity for the future of government-paid employees and can lead to political interference and a less-than-independent public service.

“We want this thing stopped. We do not support it at all. It is not good for the country. People need stable jobs rather than a contract for a number of years hanging over their heads. The situation is worse for the general worker who has no National Insurance protection and is not entitled to any gratuity,” he said.

Walrond contended that employees on contract may want to “appease their masters due to the fact that they are on a contract and they don’t want to offend anybody”, thereby opening themselves up to political influence.

“The public service is supposed to function independently and be apolitical. It also has a code of ethics by which public servants must operate. But with people now being hired by contract, it exposes them to uncertainty and creates a precarious worker and a precarious public service. These workers cannot then plan for the future of their lives. We want contract work stamped out,” asserted the senior official of the country’s main public sector union.

He explained that commercial banks do not extend mortgages or other long-term loans to contract workers because they lack security of tenure.

“These are some challenges because contract work is not only at the top, the bottom worker is also placed at a disadvantage… when you place them at the mercy of being on their own and then they still can’t be covered as self-employed. They don’t get any gratuity payment, they don’t get vacation leave. So these vulnerable ones at the bottom are who we really have to look after and protect,” Walrond argued, adding that he believed permanent appointees would function in a fair and impartial way.

“At the top, we are comfortable that the public service is full of competent and qualified persons, and we are not convinced that if you are talking about more efficiency and productivity in the public service, going for contracted workers instead of appointment of public officers . . . would necessarily see efficiency.

“We are not convinced that efficiency has increased or that there are better brains outside of the public service. We have confidence in all the competencies in the public service. I would tell you that when elections are held, one of the reasons why political parties transition seamlessly without any blunders is because of the competency of the public service. The organs of Government continue to roll. It is the public service that really rolls things.”

The NUPW official also addressed the issue of high food prices versus the level of salaries and wages.

He said that given the erosion of workers’ spending power, the union wanted to see an upward adjustment in wages and salaries in 2023.

“We are still committed to a wage increase. We welcome temporary measures like a VAT-free day but… workers are well-deserving of an upward adjustment in their salaries to buttress the high cost of living and inflation because the workers’ purchasing power has been diminished to the extent that has to be looked at,” Walrond said.

Observing that the main factor in production is labour, the senior trade unionist insisted that greater attention must be paid to workers’ plight.

“We are at the stage where it [labour] can’t sustain or carry everything. So, there has to be a consideration for labour as the most important commodity in the factor of production. We are saying then that we are still committed and anxious to see the process advanced and completed with some upward adjustment in salaries for public officers,” he added.

“So the union has to go into 2023 with a vision that we need to continue to secure the things we need to secure and wherever possible to improve the conditions of service, and where we could improve labour management relations through ongoing training and education.”

Walrond also said the NUPW leadership would like to see better communication.

He acknowledged that keeping members apprised of all pertinent issues was one of the challenges facing the organisation.

“Let us do a periodic review to see where we are at and where we are going; how we can improve industrial relations as well. We also want to encourage and improve members’ participation in the union,” Walrond said.

“We will be going into 2023 providing responsible leadership and not just a populous agenda where you do things you know are not sustainable. We will continue to do the right things and continue to follow the process and give the workers the best representation in the context of the environment that we are in,” he added.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb