NUPW comments ‘vexatious’

Management of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) yesterday described as vexatious and non-conciliatory comments attributed to the general secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), Dennis Clarke.The hospital said in a statement that it was wrong for the NUPW to suggest that it had received no response from the human resources committee of the board.    The QEH said that by letter dated June 25, 2010 to the general secretary Clarke, the chief executive officer of the QEH, Dr Dexter James, outlined the board’s decisions in relation to earlier discussions under the chairmanship of the Chief Labour Officer (CLO). “Furthermore, in the spirit of the conciliation effort, both sides had agreed that no public comment would be made until matters have been fully discussed with the CLO. As such there was the expectation that the union would provide feedback to the QEH after which either side would be free to explore further action,” the statement added. The QEH said it considered the union’s response to be in bad faith and not in keeping with the spirit of the conciliatory talks.“In the interest of clarity, it should be known that the QEH is reviewing the recruitment policy which includes the policy on the engagement of relief workers, with a view towards providing a wider pool of skills and competencies to the QEH and employment opportunities for more Barbadians within the spirit of job sharing. . . .”  (PR)