Trade unions pleased with turnout

THE heads of this island’s four largest trade unions are pleased with the response received from shop stewards and other members of the public who participated in Tuesday’s walk.

The walk, which moved off around 11:45 a.m., was in protest of Government’s recent budgetary measures, in particular the increase of the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL).

It saw over 500 persons joining the leaders of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) and the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), as they walked from Queen’s Park to the Parliament Buildings.

At Parliament, BWU’s Toni Moore, NUPW’s Akanni McDowall, BSTU’s Mary Redman and BUT’s Pedro Shepherd sought to hand deliver letters to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the two Independent Members of Parliament. They were only successful in presenting a letter to the Opposition Leader.

Speaking to The Barbados Advocate prior to the start of the walk, Moore said the unions had projected that 300 individuals would have turned out on the day. She added, “We are quite happy up to now and the energy amongst the people that we have mingled with so far has been what we wanted it to be – positive but controlled.”

Meanwhile, McDowall said he was “encouraged by the numbers and this is just the first step in many things to come”.

Also speaking to the press, Shepherd and Redman said they were pleased with the response. Shepherd further highlighted the key takeaway individuals should get from being involved in the walk.

“I think the most important thing one can expect from this walk is a show of unity, a show of solidarity. I think one has to recognise that even though there may be some issues in the Trade Union Movement in Barbados that when there is cause for the unions to unite, they will unite and this morning you are going to see four of the larger unions uniting for a particular cause and I believe that this is a movement that will go forward from strength to strength. I believe that this is the first in a series of events that these four unions are going to spearhead.”