The ongoing dispute between Unity Workers Union (UWU) and government exposes the boast we are an uneducated people. It seems the height of ignorance actors on both sides are unable to resolve a dispute involving healthcare workers during a pandemic. This has occurred in a country with a social partnership established with a mandate to prioritize a space to facilitate consultation, dialogue and collaboration. It must be stated Caswell has written in this space his lack of confidence in the social partnership.
The blogmaster has no bone in the fight EXCEPT to acknowledge the life of a human being is priceless. If it is the grievances fueling the dispute for whatever reasons cannot be quickly resolved because of weighty imponderables – the raging pandemic has created the opportunity for reasonableness between the parties to be exercised. To maintain intractable positions with omicron starting to spike our rate of infections is an admission of idiocy. Bear in mind Barbados’ heavy dependence on tourism and the negative impact an elevated positivity rate will have on the country’s ability to earn precious foreign exchange. There is the possibility government’s finances may collapse and compromise its ability to service public sector payroll.
According to reports strike action about 100 strong is expected to take place this morning, a clear indication the chasm which exists between the two sides. If UWU backs down it may be interpreted as a defeat especially for the peppy head of UWU Caswell Franklyn who is fighting to increase his share of membership. If the government gives in, it opens the door for the industrial relations climate to become active at the worse time for government managing tanking revenues.
Of concern to the blogmaster is the role Most Honourable Minister of Health Jeffrey Bostic has been reported to have played so far. It was reported the former schoolmates Bostic and Franklyn had agreed to a third party mediator to move the dispute along. According to Caswell Prime Minister Mottley vetoed the meeting after her request for striking workers to return to work was rejected. This slammed the door shut on possibly resolving the matter or at minimum depositing it in the abeyance bucket. The call of a snap general election eighteen months from when it is constitutionally due ensures the door remains closed. This is the second time Bostic has found himself in a pickle in recent months. His surprising admission he knew nothing about an arrangement between a Mark Maloney led initiative and government to procure AstraZeneca Covid 19 vaccine from a non traditional procurement source continues to tug at sensible minds. It surprised many including the blogmaster that Bostic and the permanent secretary- who signed off on the strange arrangement- were conferred high national honour. Through it all the phlegmatic Bostic has been serving out his final days having given notice of retirement from politics in October 2021.
In the system of government we practice all ‘big works’ related matters continue to lead to the first among equals in Cabinet. Hopefully in the debate to come about reforming the Barbados Constitution, whichever party wins the upcoming election, Barbados will seize the opportunity to create relevant constitutional clauses to ensure decision making by the executive becomes more decentralized from the prime minister led approach synonymous with a dictatorship.
too many black birds.
That’s why i don’t like politics, people tend to display every stupid act they learned and it earns them nothing in return but there they are.. they are on their own, made it very clear the day i came on BU that i dislike politics and want nothing to do with it and even less to do with politicians,…i don’t need them, don’t want them speaking for or representing me anywhere, they are disgraceful and i find associating with them disrespectful to my ancestors…
Part of the problem is too many are DISCONNECTED from their ancestors, know nothing about their ancestry and cling to what destroys them……and are not even making an effort to reconnect….can’t help them won’t waste the energy, the young need that upliftment right now, the older heads are mostly LOST and GONE..we just got to keep our eyes pinned on everyone and not get sucked into anything..they should have known they were WASTING TIME ON ME…like i told them repeatedly for years…..but they had to pay to learn…
William….no one has ever wasted that much time on me, outside of love interests, as some here on BU….should have known something was very wrong….and all they got for it….is looking more sketchy, don’t think they fall under trustworthy after all of that……while i moved on over 2 years ago and was just putting things in place..
Was trying to give them a photo to commit to memory. Let’s see if it shows up, if not will get it customized better another day.
Dear, dear! This is would be funny if I was in the mood for laughing.
I conducted two online polls
(1) Should there be strike action during a pandemic
90% No 10: % Yes. Not participating 1%: percentages added to more than 100 due to rounding
(2) Should essential staff be paid during a pandemic
90% No , 10% Yes
The outcome still puzzles me. Next thing you know, besides not paying nurses, they will stop nurses with covid-19 from voting. “Get back on the ward”
“Was trying to give them a photo to commit to memory. Let’s see if it shows up, if not will get it customized better another day.”
Are you an intellectual in disguise
you are always talking about yourself
Don’t let it go to your head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=500F9W1qku8&list=OLAK5uy_lvOgYiBMHhnGQ1Iy7cwfp719ceKa4OzXI
Well everytime I rock a rhyme that show Jamar is intellectual Girls, STILL want to get sexual They try to pull me offstage, hopin’ that we can engage, in some sexual escapades Grabbin’ for the jewels of the fam Actin’ like they never seen God rock a jam in they lifetime, grabbin’ my lifeline
Source: Nation
Source: Nation
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
nothing goes to my head, too grounded for that, know who i am and where i came from, needed to give those who thought it was a good idea to use me a little background on HOW NOT TO USE SOMEONE who saw what ya were doing all along.
so how many members does this BU anonymous cult have….5-8….ya will need a good 50-60 to start, ya numbers are too low first off, no one with any real intelligence joins anonymous cults…maybe if ya started a real registration so people would know who everyone is, ya numbers will climb significantly..
why i needed to show who i am, sat right here and watched WEDGES being driven between people who have been on this blog longer than my 9-10 years….SUCCESSFULLY DRIVEN, some don’t even comment like before, would never have done something so low class….and i have interacted with all of them and now we lost Pacha, temporarily i hope, because of these NEARLY invisible TREACHERIES.
…i only took offense when the attempt was made REPEATEDLY to SOW SEEDS of division and discord between the people living on the island and those who immigrated to the diaspora and WHO PROP UP THE ISLAND with remittances, that one was not only OUT OF PLACE but taking things too far……….that was when William issued warnings to the clowns who thought that too was a good idea, so that way scuttled, didn’t have the intelligence to take it anywhere anyway
, but a lot of damage had already been done to the blog….saw it going in the wrong direction….but not my blog, pulling it back was the responsibility of the owner….saw all the underhanded wickedness playing out…..mistake that was made was using me as a distraction. After i got a feel for the perpetrator(s), that blight was successfully removed from my current environment.
William…i know sometimes it don’t seem like am paying attention…but ya can guarantee….VERY LITTLE ESCAPES ME…it’s always filed away to be looked at another day.
All blogs are crap and tend to be random people dueling with nonsense using opposite logic and repeating points.
Anonymity brings out the ugly side of people that hates others. People who you would not give a seconds thought to in real life are the ones you engage with. Don’t worry yourself over nonsense.
OK! Now I’m laughing.
An excellent Editorial
Xxx
To quote MAM
This is who were are
They are free to continue on the same destructive path if they are allowed. People have to know what they want and make their own decisions…a blog comes with a lot of responsibility, and when there are evil forces all around that have been actively trying for 15 years to shut them down, one must always be vigilant…. that’s why i don’t use the options available to me.
Donna January 9, 2022 7:12 AM #: “OK! Now I’m laughing.”
I wanted to laugh as well.
Have too many things going on. Am so very busy with my business that am too busy and tired to laugh.
Hahahaha
If Pacha does not return to the blog it will PROVE what we are all now thinking and reinforce what others have posted about for YEARS IN WARNING…
Well our Supreme Leader MAM
has implored all Barbadian electors to give the BLP all 30 seats !
And MAM further implored that the country need no opposition !
Wow
So December 26, 2021…..MAM had 29 seats in a 30 seat Parliament…..yet she was not contented !
On December 26, 2021…..she had 18 months left of her 5 year mandate…..yet she was not contented !
Yet she announced fresh general elections for January 22, 2022 !
David BU
As MAM’s personal advisor on this blog……do you know / have an idea of what she wants ?
And you can …..pick, pick, pick for the answer(s)
Over to you…..
@Fractured BLP
She probably want the same things as Verla.
New polling results for
(1)Should nurses be paid during a pandemic?
70% No; 30% Yes.
Surprising increase in the number of positive responses.
Starting a new poll
(2) Should nurses be allowed to vote during a pandemic?
Please bear in mind that they will be working with covid-19 patients who are not allowed to vote.
Wow. That poll was like giving a stack of pancakes to a hungry crowd. Over 300 responses in five minutes
(2) Should nurses be allowed to vote during a pandemic?
No 80%; Yes 20%.
One person commented, the categories should be “Hell No!” and “Yes”
@Fractured,
Do not be disingenuous. You well know that she meant voting for an opposition, for the sake of it, rather than on merit, may create more trouble than it is intended to prevent.
Sadly, to your point, the opposition efforts at campaigning thus far are woeful.
That, along with the elephant in the room that the DLP leader may have a frail chance at winning her own seat, means that yes, the BLP may deservedly win easily.
Suspiciously, we reached 495 votes and then stalled.
Researching the reason, but one of my pollster pointed out that we had exactly 495 new covid cases.
A polite ask: If you have covid-19, please refrain from voting in our poll.
Pollster note: Here we are trying to poll the same population that would be voting on January 19. It is therefore necessary, to ask covid-19 infected persons not to vote.
@ David who wrote ” She probably wants the same things as Verla.”
Except one.lol
@TheOGazerts
Your next poll question needs to be
“Should nurses turn up for work if they were not on strike but still were not paid? Hell Yes / Yes / No / Hell No
Source: Nation
The city is a DUMP and has been that way since Billie The Goat….why is anyone taking credit for keeping it as a dump is beyond me…the minimal work done does not making it any less of a dump.
Source: Nation
@David January 13, 2022 5:23 AM
Hindsight being 20/20 vision, a wiser move by Caswell would have been to suspend strike action until the election was over, hold the protest marches and resume strike action on the 24th.
To repeat, liken it to a game of chest. The government will work hard to crush Caswell and UWU because they know if he gains a foothold the type of person he is it will not be easy for them. They will work to fix the problems identified but will work hard to make sure he is not seen as a ‘Messiah’. This is not to say the blogmaster does not agree with the cause.
Your comment against the foregoing is a sensible one.
Strike action needs new tactics.
A 1 day strike every two weeks in the form of a protest march or picket might be a modern, more effective approach to strike action to keep the issue in the public domain past the 9 day attention span we have.
@CA
This is what we are talking about, their move, your counter. This is what it is about.
Caswell has been complaining about striking workers not being able to easily return to the job. We need to hear more. Is disciplinary action being taken against striking workers?
The challenge is approval for marches must come from the establishment. The workers Caswell represent would have to fall back to tactics QEH are using re: sick out.