BWU to launch National Wellness Policy soon

Within a few weeks, the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) hopes to launch their National Wellness Policy.

Speaking during the second day’s events of the Week of Excellence, which was held at Solidarity House yesterday morning, General Secretary of the BWU, Toni Moore, stated that she is very excited and looking forward to launch of the policy in April this year, after a two-year planning process.

“The Executive Council of the Barbados Workers’ Union is pleased to hear that today’s work will lead to he launch of the National Wellness Policy in the month of April.

“We have been working on the draft for close to two years, and we therefore believe that the policy will be of the quality which would make our country proud, particularly given the fact that it will be the first of such, we understand, to be developed in the English-speaking Caribbean,” she said.

“We in the BWU are pleased that we will soon see the launch of the policy because we believe that if we are able to use it as a mechanism to improve the health of our workforce and our wider community, Barbados would be able to significantly reduce the tremendous human and economic costs of illness, which result in hospitalisation, absences, presenteeism and reduced productivity.”

The General Secretary went on to address a point made by Acting Prime Minister of Barbados, the Hon. Richard Sealy, during his remarks on Monday where he reaffirmed that the BWU and other Social Partners have been actively involved in the Barbados Sustainable Recovery Plan, even though the BWU would have released a statement noting they were not.

“I repeat that we were not. However, any effort that is made towards Barbados’ sustainable recovery led by whomever, is one that the BWU will throw its heart in because productivity, we recognise to be, is at the heart of the future and therefore at the heart of our recovery,” she said.