Rebellion: Sickout cripples hospitals as nurses break from union

Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) President Patsy Edwards Henry is moving to crush a rebellion within the ranks of public nurses who launched an islandwide sickout on Wednesday that crippled operations at hospitals already hobbled by the COVID-19 crisis.

The power struggle appears to have eroded a chunk of Edwards Henry’s authority, pitting a faction of junior nurses weary of perceived weak advocacy against their seniors.

Wednesday’s sickout did not have the blessing of the NAJ executive, which had battled to diffuse a gathering storm of protest that emerged in a militant online group on Monday.

The protest action sent senior managers scurrying to redeploy staff as absences rippled across the landscape, forcing wards to limp along with almost a third of nurses missing nationally.

Tempers flared at a late-morning emergency meeting called by the president to evaluate the scale of the fallout.

Edwards Henry sought to appeal to the more than 260 attendees that the union had engaged in talks with the minister of health, chief nursing officer, and the chief medical officer.

But a pledge for a follow-up meeting in two to three weeks offered no solace to the junior nurses, who argued that a revolt was necessary to secure desired benefits.

Edwards Henry rebuffed the assertions of the dissident nurses.

“You cannot want to be part of the organisation and then at the same time you are beating the organisation ... . We cannot deal with it from an emotional point of view,” the NAJ president told the meeting.

She blamed the islandwide “uprising” on a leaderless group of renegades who have called themselves ‘Better Care for Nurses’.

Edwards Henry described the faceless ringleaders as “misguided” and “misinformed”, emphasising that the NAJ was the only body that has the authority to speak on behalf of nurses. The union boss argued that the grouses have been documented and would be on the agenda for discussion.

It is unclear whether her entreaties for nurses to return to work will be heeded Thursday morning.

The NAJ, like other groups of public-sector workers, has historically been a thorn in the side of political administrations, leveraging their thousands-strong membership to bargain hard and tap sympathy and sentimentality.

Major concerns include the need for more mental-health support, greater access to healthcare, and an improvement in working conditions at hospitals.

They have already rejected a 2.5 per cent wage hike proposal.

The state of affairs at Cornwall Regional Hospital has been described as “deplorable” and “depressing”, with the multibillion-dollar renovation of the beleaguered multistorey facility at a crawl.

One nurse revealed that each time it rains, staff have to position buckets to collect water. The hospital’s sluice room also leaks, affecting colleagues on the lower floor.

Members within a Telegram group – an encrypted messaging app similar to WhatsApp - launched an online petition that up to 7 p.m. Wednesday, had been signed by more than 500 nurses.

Some of their demands include a pay rise of at least 50 per cent; extended vacation from 14 to 21 days; reserved space for healthcare workers to receive treatment; and improved housing benefits.

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton sought to de-escalate the situation brewing with the nurses, explaining that consultation has already begun.

“Some of these issues have been around for a while ... [and] there was the issue of the prime minister’s comment, which I have clarified and have sought to reassure them that the interpretation was taken out of context,” Tufton said.

That referenced a Jamaica House press conference last Thursday during which Prime Minister Andrew Holness insisted that no group would receive preferential treatment, saying that healthcare workers were tasked to triage – or assess – cases according to priority.

The prime minister’s comment has rankled nursing staff, who believe they have been disregarded despite being on the front line of the COVID-19 fight. The deaths from COVID-19 of nurse Annette White-Best and Linnette Johnson, who was retired, have fuelled a rallying cry among nurses.

White-Best died after waiting for a protracted period for a ventilator.

The Opposition People’s National Party has sided with the nurses, calling the prime minister’s remarks offensive and demanding an apology.

Several hospitals are operating beyond capacity because of the third wave of coronavirus infections, which have topped 64,000 cases. More than 1,430 people have died.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is hoping that there will not be a repeat of the sickout protest, in which 375, or almost 30 per cent, of an estimated 1,335 nurses were absent islandwide. Some of the hardest-hit hospitals were in the South Eastern and Southern regional health authorities.

While declining to comment on the salary negotiations, Tufton highlighted the ministry’s efforts to hire more retired nurses and construct field hospitals as key steps to alleviate some concerns.