The president of the union representing the majority of public sector workers in Barbados is defending the nearly 30 000 employees against a Senator’s claim that thousands of them “do nothing”. But Senator Frances Chandler is not backing down from her position, saying that as much as ten per cent of those civil servants are not giving a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.
Walter Maloney of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) told the WEEKEND NATION yesterday that while there may be a few slackers, the vast majority of the 30 000-odd people employed by Government were doing a good job, sometimes under difficult conditions.
“It would be stupid of me not to say that there are some persons in the public service who don’t pull their weight, but that’s a minority and that happens even in the private sector,” he said.
“The private sector in Barbados is not any better than the public service. I would stand on that. The delivery of service is not any better than what we see in the public service . . . It happens in every organization and I’m not saying that it should but I’m saying that we need to find ways to try to minimize that.”
