Submitted by Crusoe
From the CBC News (Barbados) Website we see a news item that the NUPW may call industrial action at the principal healthcare institution the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, next week. The reason given, according to the news article, is that the QEH Management has failed to meet a June 16 deadline of meeting with the National Union of Public Workers, to address job appointments at the institution. The article further notes that the QEH Management is reported to have expressed disappointment at the action, noting that the union failed to accept a mediation by the Chief Labour Officer.
My question is, why the QEH Management refused to even meet with the NUPW, even as a preliminary action, in order to establish some discussion and points of contention, prior to seeking a mediation by the Chief Labour Officer. I suggest that if these are the facts, then the QEH Management is not addressing the situation with practicality, efficiency nor really, a sound moral base. One must accept that the QEH is a national institution, paid for by the taxpayers of the country, not a private institution.
While management of an organisation acts within the scope of the best interests of stakeholders including, to varying degrees, the shareholders, note that the shareholders in this case are the taxpayers, the same individuals as the clients of the institution. As such, management should accept that it is in the interests of the stakeholders to accomplish the goals of the organisation via amicable means, refraining from means that seem combative and merely for the purpose of adhering to ‘rules’.
While we must follow due process, there should also be some flexibility involved and means that appear combative can only be detrimental to the stakeholders of the institution, leading to further decline in perceived status of the institution and the service offered. We must note also that this perception is not isolated to this situation, but can be seen in many areas.
Areas such as cost overruns, contract tendering, discipline of minibus drivers etc, can all be seen to be handled in terms of strict ‘legal terms’, but unfortunately, while ‘satisfying’ matters in form, has not addressed the issues in substance. The missing factor appears to be one of transparency and accountability, in some cases of buck-passing, of doing what is permitted and required, without addressing the underlying issues and achieving a real solution.
Is this what our society has come to, a nation of paper-pushers, insensitive to the real issues and real solutions?
We must focus on bridging gaps in expectations wherever they may exist, between voters and those to be elected, between employees and employers, between representatives of authority and the average citizen. To do this we first need transparency and accountability, which will facilitate understanding, because without understanding by all parties, there can be no agreement.
Most of all, we must answer two related questions. Is our motive ‘true’ and is our subsequent action ‘right’?
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