President Ali says conditions of frontline workers being “exploited”

When asked to comment on the recent protests conducted by frontline workers for improved wages, risk allowances and better protective gear, President Irfaan Ali told the press that he believes that the circumstances of those frontline workers are being exploited.

Ali’s comment follows hundreds of nurses and other frontline workers from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) and the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) staged protests for better salaries, working conditions and even risk allowances, last week. Carrying placards and chanting ‘No increase and allowance; no work period’, and ‘We demand risk allowances’, these frontline workers believe that their requests are “more than reasonable” particularly considering that the COVID-19 virus has so far infected more than 2,500 Guyanese and has taken the lives of 78. “Issues that the nurses and doctors raised were under active consideration,” Ali told the press on Saturday, during a visit to the site of the new Demerara Bridge.

He went on to say, however, that “What I have seen in this strike are a few factors, and I have a strong monitoring team looking at the type of narrative being built on social media” while adding that there are “actors” who are exploiting the circumstances of those health workers. The President was keen to highlight the $150M that has been budgeted for frontline workers, as he has emphasized that the government is committed to improving the lives of all workers. Recently, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud announced that her ministry will be expanding its Childcare Assistance Programme to provide free childcare to frontline workers.

When questions about the particular requests made by health workers, Ali indicated that he saw requests which were beyond the scope of what the government could provide at present, particularly duty-free concessions for nurses. The President went on to assert that the $5B budgeted by the government for sugar workers should not be used to draw a parallel by health workers as justification or a rationale for their demands.

(Kaieteur News)