The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Doctors Union has been blocked from taking further industrial action against the government and ordered to return to work after an injunction was granted yesterday by Supreme Court Justice Ian Winder.

According to Attorney General Carl Bethel, the injunction further ordered that BDU be restrained from contravening Sections 76, 77, and 83 of the Industrial Relations Act. It was also ordered that an ‘inter partes’ hearing be heard tomorrow at 2.30pm before Justice Winder.

The injunction came several hours after BDU President Melisande Bassett revealed yesterday the union intended to use all legal means available to continue fighting the government including holding a strike vote on several matters where they have been denied due course.

However, following the injunction, she sent a statement to members saying: “With the recent developments, we must remember our senior physicians who have allowed us to fight for our constitutional right without endangering the public’s safety or well being.

“We request that the on-call teams for the departments of surgery, medicine, obstetrics, paediatrics, accident and emergency take over admission to the hospital from 12am to 8am to allow our consultants much-needed rest.”

The union had been ordered back to work as a result of Labour Minister Dion Foulkes referring their holiday pay dispute to the Industrial Tribunal on Monday, but junior doctors yesterday continued their protests, marching from the Queen’s Staircase to Rawson Square.

Union leaders are wary of the BDU dispute being sent to the Industrial Tribunal, with Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson telling doctors beforehand that the panel had no power to deal with this issue.

During a press conference yesterday before their protest, Dr Bassett insisted the battle would continue with the backing of almost every major union in the country including the Consultant Physicians Staff Association. CPSA President Locksley Munroe called the government’s handling of the BDU disrespectful.

This is the latest development in this ongoing standoff between government and BDU, which has been on strike since last Wednesday.

“We have done everything that we were required to do,” Dr Bassett said. “We showed up to meetings when we were asked to. We went to the Industrial Tribunal when we had a scheduled meeting. Of course the Ministry of Health, the Department of Health, the minister never showed up. Meetings were cancelled. We weren’t given due process to actually argue our case.

“I think that’s a slap in the face to all workers everywhere. If you have a complaint, you should be given the opportunity to argue those issues to discuss those issues to sensibly reach to a conclusion.

“We have yet to meet with the minister of health. We have yet to sit down as a body and discuss with him any of our issues, but yet we have been denied the legal right to exercise our right to industrial action because we have not been able to have conversations and we are being told that we have to go back to work because the matter is referred to the Industrial Tribunal.

“Now of course we have been seeking advice from all across as to what is our next step and this morning we would have had a meeting on that and today we want to let you know that this may be a small battle that seemingly they have won, but the war is still being waged and we will not stop.

“One thing that the minister has failed to realise is that we have four other matters that they did not attend at the Industrial Tribunal. Trade disputes have already been filed and we’re going to call for a strike vote on all of them. That’s fine.”

Ms Bassett said the government had no right to illegally impose one-year contracts on doctors, adding it was also the union’s intention to file a trade dispute over the removal of housing for interns and housing allowance.

“We are going to call for strike action on the fact that you refuse to pay the at least 15 or 20 odd doctors that work for the Department of Health the raises that they are owed or the allowances that they are owed and this has been going on for at least five years now.

“We will file for a strike action on those matters. You don’t want to talk to us at the table (so) we will use the legal means that are afforded to us,” she said. 

“The practise of firing people when they complain about you releasing their personal data that will stop. How can you fire them when they complain that you all released their personal file to another body, which is illegal? Shame on you.”

She continued: “This is one part of the battle. The war is not finished until you treat us fairly and you treat us decently like we are Bahamians.

“This is not a Gestapo regime where you could do whatever you want and we sit down and take it. That time is over and done with and I hope you understand that today we are untied because this is going across the nation this is happening.

“(If) you are doing it to one then you are doing it to all of us and we realise that you are twiddling away our rights slowly but systematically. Today is the day we say no and enough is enough. Fine you have given us an injunction, now await our response.”

For his part, Mr Ferguson said he advised Health Minister Dr Duane Sands that the path taken thus far was not desirable. He was adamant also that Minister Foulkes had no powers outside of statute.

Additionally, Mr Ferguson accused the government of failing to paint the full picture of the doctors demands. He was referring to doctors initially asking for $10m in outstanding holiday pay, but reaching a compromise and agreeing on a settlement of $5m.

Mr Ferguson said junior doctors have been unable to live normal lives as they cannot obtain mortgages or car loans because of contractual work.

He said: “Yesterday I was served with a letter from the minister of labour indicating to me he intended to exercise Section 76 of the Industrial Relations Act to have this matter referred to the tribunal.

“Subsequent to that I received a phone call from Dr Sands indicating to me that they anticipate going to the court for an injunction.

“I said to Dr Sands in my humble opinion from my years of experience in this business it is appropriate that you meet with the union and try to resolve the matter.

“Dion has no powers. I know he is telling you some things. How could the minister of labour, could you imagine, order workers to do anything? The minister’s function is to refer the matter to the tribunal on the assumption that the tribunal can do something about it,” he further said.

“So when they refer the matter you get zero because the tribunal has no authority. The Supreme Court has no authority to order you do anything save for an injunction.

“I told Dr Sands when you are making your disclosure to the court, remember you have a duty to make what we call a full and frank disclosure. Don’t leave anything out because you might very well get it if you didn’t disclose these things to the court, but the court generally would grant 48 hours for us to opine.”