THE NATIONAL Union of Public Workers (NUPW) is considering an offer from the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC).
Earlier this afternoon, Minister of Labour Senator Dr Esther Byer emerged from a four-hour meeting with the sub-committee of the social partners to say an offer had been made.
“We now have a firm offer that has been put on the table by the BIDC to the NUPW. The NUPW has indicated that they need to go back to their council and that we would have a response from them very shortly, at least by tomorrow,” Dr Byer told the media.
“So there is an offer on the table, an offer that has not been rejected and has been given in good faith ad looked at in good faith.”
The Minister said both parties agreed not to divulge the terms of the offer at this time.
Last Monday, the NUPW led a march of roughly 5 000 people protesting the early retirement of 13 employees from the BIDC. They were adamant that the workers, who were 60 years or older, should be reinstated or paid in full until retirement age, 67.
As tension escalated, the NUPW and the Barbados Workers Union have been moving closer to a national strike.
Minister of Commerce Donville Inniss was also at today’s meeting, but he did not address the media.
Also present were chairman Alex McDonald and CEO Anne Reid of the Barbados Private Sector Association; Sagicor’s general manager Edward Clarke; Sue Springer, CEO of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association; Patrick Todd from the Prime Minister’s Office; a representative from the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados; executive director Tony Walcott and Ian Gooding-Edghill, president of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation. (MB)