THE EFFECTIVE DEMOTION of president of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Akanni McDowall from his acting appointment to his substantive junior post in the Ministry of Health looks set to escalate into a battle between the union and Government.
The executive council of the NUPW is due to meet in emergency session at 2:30 p.m. today to discuss the issue, with senior officials seeing the Government’s action as a threat to freedom of speech and association.
According to a highly placed source at NUPW headquarters in Dalkeith, St Michael, where the meeting will be held, members believe McDowall’s demotion was linked directly to his leadership of the union in its clashes with the Freundel Stuart Administration over a number of issues, including partial privatisation of waste collection at the Sanitation Service Authority and the union’s objection to Government’s plan to move all customs officers to the Barbados Revenue Authority.
The Barbados Workers Union (BWU), through its General Secretary Toni Moore, only this week registered its objection to McDowall’s demotion and called for a meeting with the Personnel Administration Department to discuss it. (RRM)
