P.S.U. Takes Private Sector to Task on Vaccine Mandate

Dean Flowers

In speaking with News Five this evening, Flowers also called out the private sector for the purported double standard where vaccine mandates are concerned.  He says that the business community objected loudly to similar measures being imposed on employees within the private sector but that it seemingly supports the position being taken by government for all public officers to be vaccinated by mid-December.

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“We saw the private sector calling for this.  We saw whereby the private sector call for this and we saw where the private sector refused to hold its own self accountable by demanding that the same measuring stick be leveled against their employees.  So this is discrimination against public sector workers because it does not take into consideration workers outside of the public service and those are some of the things that immediately come to mind.  It’s unfortunate because this administration does not consult.  They have never consulted with us since taking office as it relates to COVID-19.  They simply believe that their, I believe that their interpretation of industrial relations is that they don’t need to consult.  So ultimately they are not respecting the collective bargaining process where dialogue is concerned with the employee’s representatives and we are very disappointed.  But we will see how best we can address it.  We are currently engaged in a survey to ascertain how much of our members remain unvaccinated and then we would be able to be in a better position to see how we can address this mandate that comes into effect on the fifteenth of December.  I received a memo, however, from the Central Medical Lab which was issued by Melissa Diaz-Musa and she is informing her staff that she wants the vaccination card by the first of December.  I don‘t know under what authority she is able to do that as well.  But as I said, clearly we‘re dealing with an administration that lacks cohesiveness.  There‘s absolutely no real leadership coming out of the Ministry of Health to be able to coordinate and ensure that these things involve people and that they are done in a unified effort and in a spirit of dialogue.”