Nurses employed by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) have been threatened with disciplinary action if they continue to engage in protest action while the Ministry of Public Service (MPS) has accused the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) of being deceptive.
In a statement issued yesterday the Ministry stressed that they have “acted lawfully at all material times and that the GPSU instigated protest action by several nurses and health care workers is a departure from terms of employment, collective agreement and a breach of the law governing essential services.”
Additionally a letter sent to several of the nurses from GPHC Director of Human Resources, Rohmena Chung, accused them of abandoning their duties on Friday to participate in an “illegal protest”
According to Chung their action was a breach of their “terms and conditions of employment and Public Utilities Undertaking and Public Health Services Act Chapter 54:01.”
She went on to urge workers to desist from protesting and indicated that failure to desist “will result in disciplinary action(s) being initiated”.
MPS has also drawn attention to the participation of APNU+AFC parliamentarians in yesterday’s protest in an attempt to discredit the effort.
According to the Ministry it “has observed the active role in these protests by APNU+AFC political activists, and several complaints of acts of bullyism and intimidation to health care professionals, who are interested in remaining on the job to provide care especially at this challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
They went on to strongly urge individuals to “reject invitations to act unlawfully in order for others to gain political mileage and to first and foremost honour their obligations in caring for their patients.”
The Government of Guyana, they stressed, has included in the 2020 Emergency Budget several measures aimed at bringing relief to public servants and other Guyanese including the allocation of $150M beneficial to frontline workers in the Public Service; the $25,000 cash grant to each household; the $15,000 cash grant to each child in public school and the reversal of harsh tax measures, inclusive of the removal of VAT on water, electricity, cellphones, among others.
The argument is that these measures clearly exhibit the Government’s commitment to the welfare and wellbeing of its people.
Over the past two weeks, workers from the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WRDH), the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) and GPHC staged demonstrations to press their demands for frontline workers who are managing the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These demands range from better and more personal protective equipment to payment of overtime and risk allowances. Some have even threatened strike action.
Government has responded by stressing that as essential workers they are expected to follow a specific grievance procedure before engaging in industrial action.
Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag on Friday said that essential workers must first take certain steps, including filing an official complaint, before protesting.
Just two days earlier, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health Collette Adams indicated to all health workers that “the Ministry takes these unauthorised industrial actions seriously.”
“Members of staff who have engaged in such activity will be dealt with according to the Public Service rules and regulations,” Adams explained in a circular sent to all Regional Health Officers (RHO) last Wednesday.
The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) took a firmer stance on Monday as it accused the frontline workers of “resorting to measures that can only aggravate [the pandemic] and place additional challenges on our fragile public health system.”
According to a statement from the hospital, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), which represents public health workers, sanctioned the protest before “exhausting proper industrial relations practices and procedures” set out in the Public Utilities Undertaking and Public Health Service Act.
The GPHC also dismissed claims by the workers that they were not provided with adequate PPE and that they were asked to work in challenging circumstances without risk allowance.
It said protecting its staff as this pandemic evolves remains its top priority and consequently it continues to provide appropriate PPE. The hospital also added that it has and continues to provide risk allowances to staff members in accordance with the provisions catered for in Public Service Circular NO PS: 20/19.
