January 15, 2021
We have heard repeatedly that COVID-19 presents unprecedented challenges in these unprecedented times. We get it.
The fallout of the pandemic socially and economically is all too apparent. That is why we empathise with employers just as much as we feel the pain of employees.
But even in the face of this mayhem and uncertainty, we cannot in good faith condone any situations that are not just or fair to our workers.
We reported Wednesday that prominent attorney-at-law Michael Lashley QC called for measures to be put in place to shield workers from victimisation.
Lashley said: “They are being pressured and my position is that it is indeed an unlawful act by the employer to say to that employee, ‘you have to come back to work or else’ when you have a situation where someone is waiting on a test.
Some nurses are off the job at two St Michael polyclinics. The Nation understands that a handful of nurses are staging industrial action at the Eunice Gibson Polyclinic in Warrens and at Winston Scott Polyclinic in Jemmotts Lane. Police and representatives from the National Union of Public Workers are currently at the latter clinic. More details will be provided as they come. (TG)
A resolution has now been reached between the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and the administration at Her Majesty’s Prisons Dodds, over the union’s decision to instruct civilian staff members not to report to work, due to an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) at the state-owned correctional facility. This morning president of the NUPW, Akanni McDowall explained that it has been agreed that one person in a high-level area would …
January 1, 2021
Government has come in for high praise for its overall management of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last nine months, but the umbrella body for trade unions is calling for continued collaboration between the social partners to find solutions to social and economic challenges as a New Year begins.
At the same time, the labour movement is promising to continue to fight for workers’ rights.
In his New Year’s message, General Secretary of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) Denis DePeiza said that as the country enters 2021, the Social Partnership – which is made up of Government, private sector, labour and civil society – is still forced to consider ways of responding to the myriad challenges that confronted the nation in 2020.