I’d rather be a door keeper in the house of God, than to dwell in the house of ungodliness. – Psalm 84 v. 11
When we were children, our dad would say to us at the beginning of each New Year: “It is a new year and less talking.”
What he meant was that we could expect many floggings during the year, which never came off, thankfully.
But it seems that the year 2015 has opened with industrial threats, and they are coming from two of our main unions, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT).
I think that industrial action at this time is not good for our country when the economy is now trying to recover.
The call for a protest march by the NUPW is a waste of time. More than six months after the workers at the National Conservation Commission (NCC) were retrenched, the question that must be asked is, what purpose will a march serve? As the saying goes, “you strike (attack) when the iron is hot”. It is just too late now. The time for marching has passed.
As for the BUT, I can be very sympathetic with them for the situation at Alma Parris Secondary School has been going on for too long. Four years is just too long and the problem should have been solved long ago.
Some will say that a meeting should not have taken place on the first day of a school term. But you have to take action when it is most effective. It seems as though the Ministry of Education is dragging its feet on the whole situation at Parkinson Memorial School and the Alma Parris Secondary School.
The ministry needs to face whatever the problem is head-on for time has run out and is no longer on its side.
I need not remind the ministry that in order for any school or organisation to function properly, interpersonal skills are very important.