Dear editor,

POCKETS of nurses are staging protest actions, calling on the government for improved pay and other allowances.  I saw on social media one nurse with a placard stating that she earns some $88,000 per month. The obvious question that went through my mind was, how long she had been earning that sum. Certainly, it was yesterday or even the day before, but it must have been several months. So, it then led to another question as to where was the exuberance we see now, and since when she was given that $88,000 she now decries. Undoubtedly, if $88,000 is too little now, and cost-of-living hasn’t changed markedly, then she was struggling for some time. Again, I ask, where was her voice and placard then?  The sudden rise from slumber by our nurses has caused many to view their actions with skepticism.

I saw another nurse holding a placard talking about sugar workers benefitting from $50B. This, of course, as many know is a blatant untruth, as only 10 per cent of what the nurse claims was allocated to the sugar industry. But again, where was this nurse and her colleagues’ voices when sugar workers got not even a penny during the tenure of the last administration. I wonder where she was when 7,000 workers were sent home, and they and their families left in the cold and on their own. I doubt she even uttered a whimper, but now when 1.5 per cent of the budget is allocated to help tens of thousands of her fellow Guyanese, we see a big commotion. This is gravely and grossly unfair to the sugar workers who did no crime, but were made to do the time.

So while nurses may deserve more pay, I ask, don’t all workers? We all live in the same society; we shop at the same markets. We buy the same goods; we all want to make our families happy. Why should one group see themselves as different from others? What about our teachers, or our policemen and women, our soldiers, our public servants and so many others who toil and sweat. They are no different and are equally deserving. So while I have nothing personally against the nurses, they are not doing themselves any favours; they are alienating their colleagues rather than earning their support. They have done a fantastic job, in the circumstances, which the government has recognised and made available tangible support.

In conclusion, I saw the Johnny-come- lately former Finance Minister Winston Jordan beating his chest and now speaking about advocating on the nurses’ behalf. He tells the nation he spearheaded efforts to bring relief. Too little too late I would say!

Yours sincerely,
Patricia Persaud