K.H.M.H.A. Workers Union Denounces KHMHA Act Amendment

The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Workers Union held a press conference today to voice its objections to a recent amendment to the K.H.M.H.A. Act. While a 2021 amendment had granted the union a representative on the hospital’s board, Union President Andrew Baird explained that the new amendment aims to remove the union representative. Instead, the Act now allocates that board seat to a member appointed by the N.T.U.C.B. According to Baird, the N.T.U.C.B. appointee cannot be a member of the hospital staff.

 

Andrew Baird, President, K.H.M.H.A.W.U

“On the eighteenth of October and amendment to the Karl Heusner Act was done secretly, without any information being passed on to the union for the removal of the KHMHWU representative from the KHMHA board to now be replaced with and NTUCB representative, but that NTUCB representative cannot be a member of the KHMH hospital or staff of the hospital nor a member of the union. IN totality what they are saying to us is that the voices of the workers of the KHMH does not matter to the board anymore. The principle on which we were allowed to the board by this said government who amended the act in 2021, for accountability and transparency and for the workers of the institution to have a say in the institution is now being eroded by the said government. We can only classify that having the union rep of the board has been working in the best interest of the union and staff but not the politicians. This also can only be classified as a direct hit of union busting. Our union has made it clear that it is unacceptable, we will leave no stone unturned to let the government understand that KHMHWU will not give up. We will do what is necessary to ensure our representative remains on the board.