Submitted by NUPW Insider
The count has ended and the spoils have been shared and the vanquished have departed to lick their wounds. The smiles will broaden for those whose ink soiled the space that cleansed the taint that clasped so tightly on the image of the President. He will have the broadest smile for his tally confirms that in the land of the blind he is the one eyed giant, cheques, buying club, wellness centre, bar bills and all. He has stood the test and no sower grapes can alter that fact.
The Forde, King, Gill triad will limp away and forever question the sense of competing against an incumbent president as individual warriors without adequate armour and the soldiers. They will think that the result was due to each other’s selfishness and a public service lost in a sea of apathy and lethargy. They will find solace in the fact that for what it was worth they dared take the time and found the commitment to seek to influence change. The triad will relive the election with wonderment that Maloney could in the face of argued and published evidence of misappropriation deal such warm licks to their egos and to their public personas.
Clarke the chief executive officer will in his usually unclear style will relax and fall back into a rhythm of erratic pronouncements and clearly un-researched assertions. He will no doubt escape into ecstatic celebration that the cost of travel to Italy and Spain will now be borne by the members of the NUPW as the block to his achievement demits office in the aftermath of what was referred to as a bloody election.
But what about the 1944 baby, how will this election affect its growth to adulthood, how will the anguish and spoils play themselves out in the theatre of industrial, management and human relations. How will the NUPW cope in this new environment?
The election in my view demonstrates that the institution has no meaning to the thousands that pay $26.00 per month outside the comfort of grievance representation, salary negotiations and the fringe benefits that are provided. It speaks to a frightening realization that union to the membership has nothing to do with participation and may have been a reminder of the eternal pain caused by the unifying of the Scottish and English crowns and Ireland and Great Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries respectively.
The indiscretions of the President have been documented and although they will leave a scar on the image of the NUPW for many a year, the turn out and the voting pattern in the face of all that went before will, in my view widen the gap between those that participate and those that stay away. It paints an image that the few who have direct benefits from their close association are committed to allow the sickening conditions to continue to fester and those that cannot stand the stench find flight and distance welcome partners to their cowardly stance.
But the future beckons and there are a few lights added to the darkness and the sullen and pitying backdrop provides for them opportunities to shine brightest. They must guard against pollution without hiding from the travail and find the wisdom to set and demand standards and the courage to protect them. The temptation will be great to join the party and to sign and enjoy. Just remember that the while men and women took Barabas over Jesus, it is not necessary to let this Easter season cement into the minds of all Barbadians that we must await the coming of the messiah to make clean and right the mess that now represents that baby born back in 1944. New babes and Jones it is up to you.
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