K.H.M.H.A.W.U. Representative to be Placed on Hospital’s Board

On Monday, Health Minister Kevin Bernard shared his view that a representative from the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (N.T.U.C.B.) would be the ideal choice to represent the unions on the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital’s board of governors, instead of someone from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Workers Union. However, he later mentioned that a compromise had been reached: the government and the union agreed to nominate two KHMHAWU members, with one being selected for the board. Earlier today, we spoke with N.T.U.C.B. President Luke Martinez, who confirmed that the Prime Minister’s decision is final, and the matter is no longer up for debate. Here’s what he had to say.

 

Luke Martinez, President. N.T.U.C.B.

“In my view, we’re beyond we’re beyond this conversation. I don’t think that we should be having this conversation. The National Trade Union and Congress met with the prime minister, as we’re all aware last week, and we discuss several issues, including the amendment to the KHMH Union Act. And we had come to  a compromise or an agreement that the KHMH Union would have an opportunity to nominate two of their members.  And the government would appoint one out of them. I think that I don’t know why. where we’re still having this conversation. And I don’t know that decision has been moved, no? So that is where we are in my view. Most of these boards they whether government or statutory they have a tripartite structure, meaning government representative, workers representative, and private sector representative.  And so the National Trade Union Congress forms a part of the tripartite structure or the respective union in some of these establishments, for example, KHMH, the collective bargaining rights is that is with the KHMH union, and they would form a part of the collective bargaining structure on the part of that  tribe, right? That structure, and so all they were saying is that they wanted to keep it that way.”