Ali downplays protests by frontline workers

While maintaining that his government is committed to improving the lives of all workers, President Irfaan Ali yesterday suggested that recent protests staged by frontline health care workers over demands for better wages and salaries and conditions were being instigated by persons seeking to exploit current circumstances.

Over the past week, workers from the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WRDH), the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) and the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) staged demonstrations to press their demands for frontline workers who are managing the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These demands range from better and more personal protective equipment to payment of overtime and risk allowances. Some have even threatened strike action.

“The law speaks very clearly about essential workers and how they are expected to behave and act,” Ali said during a visit to the proposed site of the new Demerara River Bridge, after he was asked by Sunday Stabroek to comment on the protests and the demands by the workers.