Hospital and union meet to talk over issues

THE Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) deliberated for four hours yesterday in an effort to settle some issues, the chief among them relating to appointments.The two parties met under the chairmanship of acting Chief Labour Office Victor Felix behind closed doors at the Warrens Office Complex.The talks have been reportedly cordial and the two sides have agreed to communicate with each other before they agree to return to the bargaining table.Deputy general secretary of the NUPW, Denis Clarke, was the chief negotiator for the NUPW while chief executive officer, Dr Dexter James, and human resources manager, Charmaine Napeleon Ramsay, put the case for the hospital.Both parties have been tight-lipped on the talks but at the centre of contention is how the hospital hires its temporary workers. The QEH’s management has maintained that there is no right to an appointment in a relief post.The hospital has indicated that “all substitute workers are employed on limited term contracts. This differs from appointed persons, who are permanent QEH employees who have acted in a post other than for a term of years, without prior consideration for appointment to hold the post in which they are acting”.However, Clarke said those people who had been substituting consistently over the years must be given preference.The lengthy talks had the effect of cancelling the meeting that was scheduled for the QEH’s auditorium in the afternoon, where the union was planning to meet with its members. (MK)