Bro Cheeseman, Last Election Maloney said he would serve for one more term and was returned unopposed. All last year during the confusion he reiterated his position that he was not running for office again. To expect him to leave the Presidency is the same thing as expecting Clarke to resign, Volta LOwe not to run or Caswell not to get hired and then fired from NUPW. It is not going to happen. Maloney has to be forced to leave. Life is too sweet for him at the NUPW.

Donald White or whoever you really are

Your last post really touched me. NUPW is too important to let die. I knew most of the people to which you refer. I consider some of them my friends. Horatio Cooke must be rolling in his grave to see who have suceeded him. He had political connections too but no one could ever truthfully say that he sold them out or that he was not confidential.

NUPW is now being used by people with little intellect to climb the social ladder and hobnob with politicians. I have actually passed through their social gatherings, I really mean pass through because the height of their conversations is how they debased women at the various overseas conferences they attend like CPSA, and I must confess that I have no stomach for such filth since I always think of my eight sisters, three daughters four grand daughters and pray that they would never be caught up in this type of behaviour.

Donald, at the end of your piece, you stated that “MALONEY and his breed of pretenders are no longer fit to lead this great institution”. I must disagree, he and his pretenders were NEVER FIT to lead NUPW. I think I knew him much longer than you: I recall entering Combermere and found him in 2nd form: I believe that I left him in 3rd form. So much for his intellectual capacity to lead. Maloney did not become President of NUPW because he was the best: he became President because he was the one who was left.

I first became active in the union in 1980. In those days, people competed for a seat on the National Council and understood their responsibilities. Now the Council is constituted by hand-pick people, and others who turned up for meetings and because they could not achieve a quorum, the two who turned up become the members of the National Council for that particular division.

Public Servants have only themselves to blame for the state of this once noble institution. They prefer to let others do the work for them, and unfortunately, those that ended up charting the course of the union had very little to commend them.

I have served the NUPW in the capacities of shop steward, councillor, trainer and member of staff and have felt honoured to serve. Now it really hurts to see that NUPW has degenerated to a mere shadow of its former self. I feel that same pain for the Barbados Labour Party that has suffered a similar fate since I served them with as much vigour devotion as I served the NUPW.
In both institutions, we have ended up with persons who work to better themselves rather than work for the collective good.

NUPW has the chance to start to rebuild in these upcoming elections. Choose carefully and be weary of candidates who tell you that I am a graduate that has been superseded over the years and that I merit promotion. Such a candidate would be seeking to position himself for promotion at the expense of the rest of the membership.
I have heard it said that you can’t serve two masters. Let the politicians continue to serve their political masters and elect persons who have you as their priority.

I agree with Caswell Franklyn 100% that, despite any person has a right to associate himself with a political party, I do think that when such person holds office in organisations like a worker’s union that was established to represent public officers, he/she should work in the best interest of those he/she represents as a priority, first and foremost.

I lost confidence in the NUPW and politicians in 1986. The Democratic Labour Party won the general elections of that year, and it was then that I witnessed certain events that I later realised was the way all politicians operate. Dr. Farley Brathwaite, who was then the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the UWI, Cave Hill, was appointed Chairman of the National Assistance Board. Also, on the Board were Derek Alleyne, Reggie Hunte, Richard Sealy, Michael Yearwood, Rev. Errington Massish (Deputy Chairman), and a few others.

The first order of business was to fire persons who were employed prior to 1986, and replace them with their people, under different job titles. The Board had no confidence in the Auditor General and employed the services of an accounting firm, Brian F. Griffith & Co. Ltd., to conduct audits for three or fours years at up to $50,000 per year. They used this same firm to do the day-to-day accounting duties.
Next they sought to establish the Board to make the posts permanent, and with this done, they appointed all the new employees, in addition to some of the old ones who had an allegiance to the DLP.

Courses, raises in pay, car loans (even the accountant, who was a relative of Maisey Barker-Welch got a car loan), were made available to the new members of staff. The job description for the then Administrative Officer was revised so that she could benefit from a car loan and travelling allowance. All this time the older staff was subjected to degrading treatment at the hands of the Chairman, Director, and Assistant Director. During the early stages of tenure of this Board, Derek Alleyne was attending the UWI, and the Chairman appointed him to all the sub-committees of the Board, so that he could benefit from the Board meeting stipends, which was $110 per meeting in those days. Thus some months he would get a $1,500.

Can you imagine, that poor Home Helpers were to be paid on Thursday mornings from 11am, and often the Chairman, who had the cheque book, would return it sometimes after 3pm. These women had to wait from 11 am until 3pm some pay days before they received their wages.

The staff sought redress about their situation by going to the NUPW, and received no help from Joseph Goddard and Dennis Clarke. However, some remained members of the union because they wanted to benefit from the medical benefit scheme. The workers of NAB did not receive any proper representation from the NUPW in those days.

I can say without any doubt that Dennis Clarke is no damn good.

@ Prodigal

To be honest, I do not know if he is still alive, and I do not care.

wow to all the comments made before , elections over , results in .
I am a member of the NUPW for the past 35 years where i saw members withdraw their dues (membership) during this time ,now i understand why. I deliberately took time to read all the comments and i have come to the conclusion that none of the candidates who contribute to this blog were suitable to lead the union.
I have nothing against blogs , but matters relating to an important institution such as the NUPW should not be discussed in this manner , then i am sure they would all say they LOVE the organization. I think personal ambitions superseded your love. The contributions were very close to the gutter. I pledge my continued support for this great institution , and i intend to play a greater role than just be a spectator looking in , i must admit i have never attended a AGM ,

To all Bloggers and non-Bloggers.

First let me congratulate the winners of the just concluded Union elections.

I want to implore members of the union to snsure that they play a a meaningful role in its affairs. There is too much apathy among members of the said union.

I joined it in either 1972 0r 1973 fresh out of school. At that time, it was considered an august body, but, overtime its standing has eroded in the eyes of the public and its members.

In the early days WHEN I ATTENDED meetings, I would listen to the robust and muscular debate and all of that was considered as a part of Unionism. As I grew in confidence, I later participated in discussions/debates from salary increases to the concept of a proposed buying club which was mooted between 12-15 years ago. I think at that time consideration was being given to involve the BPWCCUL, but honosetly I dont remember my position on that subject, which I would deal with in another blog.

The recent elections have brought out a number of things, but, foremeost is a need for meaningful reform of the union at this jucture in its development. It can’t operate as it has done over the last twenty-five years, else it would be left behind.

The decision making process must be able to stand up to scrutiny. We are insisting that Government adhere to the rules of decency and fair play in managing it affairs and we should also do likewise.

The first order of the day for the new Executive is to lead the charge towards reform; that is the Rules and Standing Orders need to be re-visited and the role and function or its organs clearly enunciated.

Persons SELECTED to serve on Council should have an interest in the overall growth of the institution, not just to say that ” they are councillors”. They should aslo have an uderstanding of and appreaciton for the role of the Trade Union Movement in Barbados’ social development.

The Union must be a part of the move to introduce Corporate Governance if it wants to be a force to be reckoned with in this 21st Century. This is a world wide phenomenon which has started long before the crash of the World Economy and this has led to the intensification of corporate reform.

The NUPW is considered one of the leading trade unions in the Region and it is revered by it sister unions in this hemisphere.
What I am further concerned about in my union is the reckless spending of our money without its use being sanctioned, and it is hoped that the new Treasurer who works in the Audit Department will ensure that the Generally Accepting Accounting Principles are pursued.

I want to inform bloggers that I am the one who moved the resolution to increase the dues from $20 to $26, because at that time we wanted to ensure that the challenge the Union was facing did not impact its operation.

From what I am seeing and hearing, it would appear that the Union is now awash with money and does not know what to do with it, and it would further appear that some members of the Union and staff have become pilots as they are always in the air. I am awaiting the Statement of Accounts for the last two years to make the determination whether there is excess liquidity. And, if it is so, we should be reaching out to the commnuity by supporting sporting and co community projects in the area.

It was unfortunate that politic was iintroduced in the just concluded elections, but what do you expect from the bloggers who have a political axe to grind.

I had planned not to comment on a statement on this blog under the guise of one Lemuel Ariel, but I am reponding to him as follows:

I had never had a discussion with Dr. Estwick while he was Minister in my Ministry or after he had left concerning who is a B , D, C, E, or F. That statement was allgegedly attibuted to one of the candidadates making such a statement about me, when I heard about what was being said I raised it with the said individual and suggested that it not be repeated. Naturally, I was annoyed at the time, but I have recognized that the devel will cite the scripture for his own purpose.

As a Public Officer I will continue to serve the people of Barbados to ensure that optimun use is made of the resources.

Let me say to bloggers and non-bloggers, that the recent experiences have clearly identified the lack of knowledge some members have about their union, they do not understand that the Executivee is elected, while the GS is a salaried employee.

While visiting the offices and engaging persons in discussions about the union. I was able to glean that some members dont seem to understand that the Executive was not responsible for the day to day running of the orgnisation. Some dont know what role the GS plays in the functioning of the Union. This is very sad.

On the issue of the proposed Wellness Centre, If some of the experienced members were honest upfront instead of quietly saying that it is a waste of time so much energry and time would not have been wasted on it.

Does anyone think that doctors or specialist will operate in a centre and charge less than the going rate for its services, if we beleive that doctors/specilasts are going to undercut their colleagues we are DEAD wrong.

The St Joseph Hospital property is to be converted to a health fcility. What the Union should be doing is encouraging younger members to join the group medicare instead of encouraging them to enter into to a three year contract to obtain a free blackberry and be committed to wasting their money on cell phone bills. what an irony.

I gone