The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

AFTER two years of contention between both parties, the National Insurance Board and Public Managers Union signed a five-year industrial agreement yesterday.

Since stalled negotiations from June 2020, this completed agreement addresses issues such as employee promotions, increased salaries, performance evaluations, training, as well as health and safety.

With this agreement being beneficial to some 150-union members, PMU president Cassandra Cartwright-Lewis said the union has come a “long way”, but she is relieved to have fulfilled the industrial agreement.

“We have come a long way, but we are here this morning for the signing of the industrial agreement for the management staff of the National Insurance Board,” she said at a press conference at NIB. “It has been a long, tumultuous and at times very daunting task, but I am relieved to be at this stage in this process.”

She thanked union members for their service prior to the signed agreement, noting the managerial staff of NIB have done a “tremendous” job in servicing customers and daily operations.

Ms Cartwright-Lewis said it is her hope that future industrial agreements will not take as long to be agreed upon.

“I do hope that moving forward, that our industrial agreement will not take as long as it has, and I do anticipate that in the future all parties will recognise that without the employees of the National Insurance Board, the board is unable to provide the kind of services necessary,” she said yesterday.

She expressed the importance of compensating employees for the services they provide in an effort to recognise the value the staff offers to the organisation.

State Minister Myles Laroda, who is responsible for NIB, was at yesterday’s press conference.

He shared similar sentiments with the union’s president, despite their differences.

“I will echo the sentiments of the director, the chairman and the president of the union. She and I have had numerous conversations, some of them cordial, some of them not so cordial, but we respected each other’s positions.

“Hers is one that she is seeking the best deal for her members and she fiercely fought on their behalf. Mine is one of a government who is sympathetic to the work that was performed by National Insurance executives and employees coming out of a pandemic and also the financial fallout of the one institution of the government that carried out the mandate of unemployment assistance.”

According to Mr Laroda, amidst challenges, both parties began official negotiations on January 18, 2021. He said they were able to reach a “harmonious” conclusion that is in the best interest of both parties.

Mr Laroda expressed the government’s pleasure in working with the union, in hopes of reshaping NIB’S future.

“We reiterate our pleasure in concluding this agreement that positively impacts our managers who are key to facilitating the efficient operation of the National Insurance Board while protecting the National Insurance Fund,” he said.

When asked by reporters to disclose the value of the industrial agreement, officials said they are unable to disclose the information.

The union’s previous industrial agreement expired two years ago.