THE BARBADOS WORKERS UNION (BWU) is throwing its full support behind the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) in protesting against the action of the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation that resulted in the earlier retirement of ten employees and the severing of two recently.
This is coming from General Secretary of the Barbados Workers Union Toni Moore during a press briefing this morning to deal with a number of continuing industrial matters after her return from the International Labour Organisation Conference in Geneva.
The NUPW earlier in the week summoned its membership in all statutory boards at its headquarters at Dalkeith, St Michael to discuss the matter this morning.
“This issue, has been raised earlier by the Barbados Workers Union . . . where workers who by virtue of their contract as imposed by a circular communicated to them extending the age of retirement consistent with the National Insurance age provides for them to work up to that age. The Barbados Workers Union like the NUPW is satisfied that where the government acts in a manner that forces people out involuntarily before their time is a situation that must be abhorred,” noted Moore.
She said if the government continued “these kinds of spurious approaches in handling labour market matters then we the people of Barbados, not the Barbados Workers Union only – must be able to see clearly what recourse we are left with.”
Moore said the commitment of redressing such approaches must not be to the BWU, other trade unions, government in power or the Opposition, “but must be to the sustainable development of this country . ..”.
“We in the Barbados Workers Union recognised that they can be no sustainable development unless there is social accountability.”
