By Emmanuel Joseph
The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) has given the Government until the end of May to settle a year-old COVID-19 hazard pay dispute with workers in the healthcare system.
Deputy General Secretary of the largest public sector trade union, Wayne Walrond told Barbados TODAY on Monday that if the matter is not resolved within the next two months, “we would have to go back and report to our membership about what happened and see what is the next move”.
He said the Government has failed to meet with the union to discuss its proposal, submitted last March, for healthcare workers at the polyclinics to receive a lump sum hazard payment.
“This is a full year and we haven’t even got an invitation around the table to sit down and even discuss it,” Walrond said.
“The NUPW is appealing to the relevant authorities to have this outstanding matter addressed since there is gross discontentment among the healthcare workers.”
He explained that the proposal was submitted as an alternative to workers using the traditional claim form, given that some categories of workers who were at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic would have been excluded from receiving a hazard payment.
“In March 2022, the NUPW submitted a proposal to the Government for a lump sum payment to all healthcare workers, given that the claim form system would not have been an equitable criteria for granting the appropriate recognition for all healthcare workers in the public sector,” Walrond said.
Expressing disappointment there has been no movement on the matter, he added: “If we can thrash this out and have it settled urgently by no later than two months, we would be happy with that result…no later than the month of May. I think if they can get around the table with a sense of urgency and treat it as a non-salaried item, it could be addressed expeditiously.”
According to Walrond, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) approach of giving workers a monthly hazard allowance was a model the NUPW believed could be used.
“The medical doctors obviously would have the edge and the nurses…[but] even the security at the door who had to interact with the public…there is some rate for him, and give him a one-off payment,” he said. “We were willing to sit down and negotiate it. I put a proposal and this is a full year and I have not got around the table to discuss it.”
However, Walrond said he remains optimistic that the Government would seek to settle the matter.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
