by Akanni McDowall, President of the National Union of Public Workers
On behalf of myself and the executive of the National Union of Public Workers, I join in the celebration of labour on this May Day, 2020.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic health crisis that we are living through has brought to the fore many elements of labour and how they can be recategorised based on what our survival needs are.
We have discovered that the people who sanitise hospitals and ensure that hygiene standards are kept, the clerks who process our national insurance cheques and even the members of departments that keep watch over our consumer rights are critical as we face something as complex and overarching as a health crisis.
Add to those the more traditional workers such as nurses who we consider frontline workers and this labour day we have a definite debt of gratitude to several workers in Barbados.
Many people have left their own homes and families over the last few weeks to ensure that our homes and families were facilitated. They carried out their jobs, under challenging circumstances, and still maintained the standards which Barbados has become known for.
Some of the workers whose efforts will benefit our island’s reputation being bolstered were not even highlighted as essential staff. However, workers in the National Assistance Board have been ensuring, for example, that assistance is provided to the sick, elderly and disabled.
As we prepare to return to wider-ranging economic activity from Monday, we are all bracing for the changes and adjustments that this continuing international crisis will demand. I am also sure that Barbadian workers will find ways to keep their production high and their pride in their tasks visible.
To those of you who have been less fortunate and have lost loved ones in this pandemic, the National Union of Public Workers extends condolences and support in your time of grief.
As we celebrate this holiday at home closest to our loved ones, may we all be heartened that where there is life, there will always be an opportunity and may we find the resolve to continue striving for our national and personal goals.
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