The Tribune

By Morgan Adderley

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Insurance Board staff returned to work yesterday morning and the entity resumed full operations following a week marred by tensions, service-level disruptions and the forced closure of a number of its offices.

The president of NIB’s line-staff union, the Union of Public Officers, Marvin Duncombe confirmed to The Tribune yesterday staff had returned to work after days of “sick-outs”.

“All staff have returned to work this morning (Monday),” Mr Duncombe said. “We have been invited to join management to continue negotiations tomorrow.”

Director of Labour John Pinder yesterday confirmed the union has not applied for a strike certificate and added he will be meeting with both the union and the executive board.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a symposium in honour of the centennial anniversary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Mr Pinder expressed sympathy for both sides involved. “I’ve spoken to both sides,” he said. “I’ve spoken to the union president and his team and I’ve also spoken to the director and the chairman of the NIB board. And I should intervene some time today (Monday). So sometime today I expect to have a meeting so that we can get this matter resolved.

“I don’t say (it’s) a very burning issue. I think the thing is, NIB union has to understand that while NIB appears to have money, they’re only a custodian, they’re only holding onto monies for sick persons and pension persons, and those other unemployed benefits, whatever benefits persons have paid into.

“But simultaneously management has to recognise that unions normally try to improve on their past industrial agreements and try to get a (little) more in the new one. And so I think that I can intervene and probably make some favourable recommendations that both sides can live with.”

When asked about the managers’ involvement in the “sick-outs”, Mr Pinder suggested their participation was to show support.

“See, these things have domino effect,” he continued. “Being a former trade unionist, I know how this works. So if the managerial union is going to the table next, and they may need support from the on-line staff, so they will show them support, so that when they go to the table (for) their own problem they expect…to have a domino effect.”

Regarding reports that the line-staff union is considering a strike certificate, Mr Pinder said: “No they have not applied to us for any strike certificate, because they don’t have any dispute filed at the department of labour.”

Sparks flew at NIB last Tuesday when dozens of line-staff members demonstrated outside the entity’s Baillou Hill Road headquarters, after Mr Duncombe said the group had reached an “impasse” in negotiations with management.

Mr Duncombe said unfair hiring practices, a broken operational system, and disputes about compensation packages are among the many issues the line-staff union has with NIB. He accused the director and board of directors of operating “without good faith”, and constantly rescinding offers they have put forth under the claim that they “made a mistake”.

Although staff returned to work after about 20 minutes, the next day was followed by a “sick-out”.

An estimated 300 line-staff called out, leaving many disgruntled customers at the headquarters and forcing the closure of multiple Family Island offices.

Tensions continued to escalate on Thursday, with managers joining the line-staff in this service disruption. This forced NIB to activate its emergency contingency plan, which featured the closure of both its Wulff Road and Fox Hill offices.

On Friday, NIB reported all Family Island offices were operational with the exception of two.