The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said a negotiation team has been given the mandate to bring resolution to the Bahamas Nurses Union’s grievances as soon as possible.

The minister told reporters the nurses have many concerns - some associated with the state of infrastructure at some clinics and hospitals. He said there is a budgetary allocation in the 2022/2023 budget to address many of the concerns.

This comes as the BUT held a strike poll last week. BUT president Amancha Williams told The Tribune at the time that the majority of votes were cast in favour of taking industrial action.

“As far as union contracts are concerned,” Dr Darville said, “they are at the table. We have our consultant negotiator who’s working very closely with the nurses union and we will stay at the table because it’s important for us to ensure that many of these long standing issues are sorted so that our nurses can be in a proper environment and some of the issues as it relates to promotions are being addressed.

“All of these things are things that I met when I came to the office and it is my responsibility to work with the unions. Not only the nurses union, with the junior doctors union as well as the consultants union to make sure that we have our professional staff satisfied with being able to do what they need to do at institutions.”

BUT president Williams has said they are expecting that the industrial agreement will be signed no later than August, but “DPH has not come to the table as yet”.

Probed on the aim for union contracts, the minister expressed urgency to try to get it done.

“In view of what we are confronted with now, our negotiation team has been given the mandate to get this thing over as soon as possible. I don’t want to put a date on it because negotiations are complex creatures within themselves. So, it’s important that the two parties are comfortable at the bargaining table and the decisions and the outcome. I would like to see it sooner than later,” he explained.

Ms Williams had previously said that if the vote is successful and strike certificate obtained, industrial action could involve withdrawing services completely.

Asked about the health service collapsing if nurses decide to withdraw services, the Tall Pines MP replied: “We’re not thinking about them withdrawing their services. Our job is to work with them to solve some of these complex issues. The union has been very supportive up to this particular point. There’s some outstanding issues and, of course, the union feels that they need to be expedited. We are of the same view.

“In this year’s budget, fortunately for us, there’s some leg room that would allow us to do some things that we could not do in the last budget. But we’re hoping and praying that we will stay at the table and work out our differences.”

Meanwhile, Dr Darville said that there is no case of monkeypox in the country as of yesterday. This comes after a foreigner who was being monitored for suspected monkeypox was airlifted out of the country last week.

The minister highlighted that samples were taken from individuals and are at the reference lab. He added some lab technologists are going through some additional training by PAHO and “in very short order” they will have the reagents in the country to be able to do testing in-house.