Health
May Day Message from NUPW Highlights Workers' Concerns and Call for Comprehensive Consultations
The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) urges authorities for more transparency on State-owned enterprise reforms and addresses concerns on sick buildings, cost of living, and labor market changes. Defending members' rights remains a top priority.
5 min read
Originally published by barbadostoday.bb (opens in new tab)
On this May Day, The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) calls on authorities to provide more information on the planned reform of State-owned enterprises, insisting there must be widespread consultations with public officers.
The union also remains concerned about the number of sick buildings and their impact on the health of workers, the high cost of living, and the changing labour market. It has assured members that it will continue to defend their fundamental rights.
Below is the full text of the NUPW’s May Day Message:
“The public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people and to the nation.”
This quotation from former US Senator Margaret Chase Smith embodies the resolve that is required to be a public officer. The Public Service, an institution that has stood the test of time has often been easily taken for granted.
The socioeconomic success of Barbados makes it easy to think that our strong public institutions which exist since independence, will always be around and in the form that they were first created. The NUPW recognises that some of the proposed changes are required, however, the challenge of collective workers in the public service is to be proactive and fully engaged in these processes, enough to preserve earned entitlements and guarantee improved terms and conditions of service.
It is our public institutions that are key pillars of our way of life. They are the reason[s] this country remains unbroken, decade after decade, and able to withstand the high winds of recession, economic downturn, social unrest and more recently health crises. The work [of] our public officers has been, and continues to be, the brick and mortar that holds our society together.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, resilience, dedication and innovation of the public sector came to the fore, as public workers demonstrated the type of commitment and sacrifice that made us proud. Heroes, we called them. Our workers were responsible for the continuation of the Barbadian way of life, the preservation of its systems of governance and administration, many times at great personal cost.
However, as we celebrate Labour Day, our mission is not one of focusing on the past, but rather looking to the future. A future where workers derive full utility from their efforts.
For 80 years the National Union of Public Workers has stood shoulder to shoulder with the workers in the Public Service. NUPW as an evolving Union, has through its history made the necessary changes to lead in the pursuit of the advancement of public workers and labour. We trust that leadership, and we trust our members will respond with courage, tenacity and honesty when called upon to inspire a new generation of Public Officers.
