— as some GPHC nurses protest for more pay, risk allowance already budgeted for

SOME nurses attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) staged a protest in the East Street parking lot on Friday morning calling for more pay.

The frontline workers, who could be heard chanting “No money, no work”, called on the Ministry of Health to provide them with an equitable working wage, as well as a risk allowance for the ‘extraordinary’ job they have been doing on a daily basis, particularly in the COVID-19 fight.
John Allen, one of the nurses who took part in the protest, told the Guyana Chronicle that frontline workers deserve better. Allen, who has been in the profession for the last nine years, highlighted that the workers have been dedicated to their duties and have been putting themselves and families at risk to ensure that the Guyanese people are getting proper healthcare.

Allen said that the nurses are standing in solidarity to urge the payment of the allowances that were promised after the COVID-19 pandemic reached Guyana.
“If we are not getting our allowances we will take this stand on a daily basis until our demands are met. We the nurses are putting our lives at risk on a daily basis, sacrificing to care for patients and we need to be shown some sort of appreciation,” Allen said.
He stressed that the health sector is extremely important given the current pandemic.

Representative of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Owen John, said the union will stand with the nurses in their collective calls for better wages. He said that the current salary being paid to frontline workers is inadequate for a sustainable livelihood.
Further, John opined that the ministry officials are disconnected from the needs of the health professionals in the public service. He called on those officials to engage the aggrieved workers to get an understanding of their wants and needs.

ALLOWANCE PROVIDED FOR
Government in the recently presented 2020 Budget has allocated some $150 million for frontline health workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We recognise that … extra efforts that health workers are putting in and, in this budget, we have allocated $150 million for risk allowance. Unfortunately, the budget is not passed as yet. It is scheduled to be passed on Friday (yesterday). As soon as we get that money, we will be able to give nurses and other [categories] of frontline workers that risk allowance that we promised,” the minister had said in reaction to a protest from nurses in Linden earlier this week.
“One of the first things we did as a government was to ensure that our nurses … as with other frontline health workers… to get PPEs [personal protective equipment] so that in this pandemic they can remain protected,” Dr. Anthony also pointed out.

The minister added that there was no need to protest for provisions that were already in the pipeline. Instead, he appealed to the nurses to use the opportunity to engage their respective regional health authorities, after which they could consult the Ministry of Health.
“We are here. We want to resolve issues and I don’t think these issues ought to be resolved on the streets. It can easily be resolved by sitting down and letting us understand what challenges they have, if any. I hope that in [the] future, if nurses have any grievances, they would employ the ‘open-door policy’ that we have at the Ministry of Health,” the minister said.