DLP COLUMN: Minister Boyce on the job

The leadership of the Barbados Workers’ Union must be commended for the stance they took in the recent Transport Board impasse.
According to Press reports, Sir Roy Trotman urged the workers to form a small team and put their concerns to management. He explained the nature of our environment and the impact that such action would have on stability and productivity. Sir Roy Trotman’s call for dialogue demonstrates that level heads still prevail in Barbados.  
Throughout the entire episode, the people of Barbados waited to hear what the concerns of the workers were and exactly how these matters were to be resolved. The public will be waiting to hear full disclosure on this matter. The union delegate leading the strike was extremely vociferous while the other person at the centre of the stand-off spoke with gusto.
The workers’ voices were amplified in widely publicized stories. To us, a caring Democratic Labour Party  (DLP) Government, rights and concerns of workers remain a top priority. It is within this context, Minister of Public Works John Boyce has been on the job ensuring staffing matters and operation upgrades occupy his time. To date, the Transport Board can be proud of several successful staff initiatives, including the following:
• Conducting customer service training seminars for its employees.
• Introduction of the Safety Awareness Programme.
• Submission of an updated code of discipline to union for its agreement.
• Inaugural children’s party for staff.
• Construction of the building for Quality Assurance Department staff at Speightstown.
• Upgrade of the staff facilities at Mangrove.
• Renovations to the staff recreation room at the Speightstown and Weymouth plants.
• Introduction of seminars on labour/management relationships.
The mission to improve the service to the public is an ongoing activity and forms part of the core occupation of our Minister of Public Works. The DLP inherited an ageing fleet and a variety of bus models that further compounded the problem of seeking to utilize spare parts from non-reparable buses. Bus availability continues to reach record levels as staff works with shrinking resources.
Minister Boyce and his management team must be congratulated for keeping dialogue on the table as an option to resolve matters. The work done by the staff of the Transport Broad forms an integral part of our economic framework. A disruption in this service would hurt our fragile economy as we continue to seek solutions to the evolving economic global crisis. Thousands of workers and schoolchildren depend on the service. These workers in turn ensure our bills are paid as a country.
In less than 48 hours, normal service was resumed and the working public of Barbados was allowed to carry on their business in a meaningful way. But what was the nature of the grievance? It cannot be the story recently carried by a NATION columnist, who seems to know what is happening at the Transport Board. Antoinette Connell’s column Nette Effect carried a descriptive piece linking the recent strike in some small way to two fishcakes. No way!  
• Douglas Leopold Phillips is a pseudonym for the Democratic Labour Party.