While a union deadline for a threatened strike by health sector workers expires today, nurses attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) have made clear that they will be engaged in a “sick out” as they continue to press for their demands for better wages and working conditions while on the frontlines of managing the COVID-19 response.
“Nurses need to be heard. Come and speak to the nurses and hear their stories,” Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) representative Owen John told reporters during a protest outside of the hospital compound yesterday.
He criticised government for issuing “threats and statements” rather than listening to the workers who daily deal with the risk of COVID-19 infection.
John’s statements were buoyed by the chants of about 30 nurses who congregated along East Street to declare themselves “overworked and threatened”.
“They work us like a donkey and pay us like a junkie,” the nurses lamented. They also said that they were dressed in white like angels but earning “burial ground salaries.”
They also said nurses are priceless yet penniless.
Last night, the Chief Executive Officer of the Georgetown Public Hospital, Brigadier (ret’d) George Lewis told Stabroek News that he had written the GPSU seeking talks for an amicable resolution.
“We wrote the union on Saturday outlining our position on the issues and suggested a virtual meeting. We await their response”, he said.
Government, however, resolute that there will be no engagement until all ongoing protest actions cease.
“The government position expressed in my letter stands,” Attorney General Anil Nandlall told Stabroek News in an invited comment.
The union last week announced that it would authorise strike action from Wednesday, October 7th, if the Health Minister fails to provide a “positive response” to its demands. In response, Nandlall had written Yarde and said unless ongoing protest actions cease immediately and the procedures outlined by the law are invoked, “the government will have no alternative but to consider certain options, including but not limited to, the institution of criminal charges, dismissal, termination of contracts of employment, suspension of the collective labour agreement with the GPSU and the suspension of the deduction of the Union dues for and on behalf of the Union.”
Health workers continue to demand improved working conditions and remuneration including the payment of risk allowance to all workers in the sectors however according to government the union failed in its duty to inform the relevant authorities of the “grievance”.
Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag has repeatedly stated that she has found no evidence that GPSU gave her Ministry or the Ministry of Labour the one-month period required by law to address the issue.
Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle has also said that there was no official notification received by his office about a grievance in the public health sector.
The union has relied on letters beginning with one it wrote to the former administration on January 24th, 2019. The most recent letter dated, April 2, 2020, was addressed to the GPHC.
Acting General Secretary of the GPSU Kemton Alexander has also indicated that the union communicated with the Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Ministry between August and September on these issues.
Despite this, government agencies maintain that they were not informed in keeping the provisions set out in the law.
“You only have these actions [protests or strikes] if there is a stalemate. The law states you have to give management a chance to address your concerns,” Ogle recently said during an appearance on the National Communication Network (NCN).
Veteran trade unionist Lincoln Lewis disagrees.
“They are aware of the issue. Whether they were informed by a letter or a phone call, they know of the grievance and should be working to address it. It is irresponsible of either side to say we will not talk. You have to talk,” Lewis explained.
He noted that while government is relying on the provisions of the Essential Services Act to guide its response, it should also be cognizant that some of the issues raised appear to be occupational health and safety issues.
“You cannot demand any service in an unsafe environment,” he stressed, while adding that these concerns alone should’ve brought the parties to the negotiating table.
Nurses have complained about being asked to re-use disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) and of being asked to work without sufficient PPE in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One nurse shared with Stabroek News images of a hospital gown she had been asked to take home and sanitise for re-use.