Midwives continuing protest

6:44 am, Tue June 6, 2023

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President of the Midwives Association Sharon Banbury, Vice-President of the Midwives Association Nichole Smart, and Errol Greene, Regional Director for the South East Regional Health Authority

Services undertaken by midwives are due to be disrupted for a second straight day as they continue their protest action over the consequences for them of the Government's recent revamping of public sector compensation.

Midwives across the island stayed off the job on Monday to press the government to correct anomalies in their salaries.

President of the Midwives Association Sharon Banbury charged on Monday that the midwives were not being treated fairly, having not been granted an opportunity to engage the Ministry of Finance & The Public Service in dialogue.

Ms Banbury said that, in the wake of the new compensation regime being implemented, midwives are taking home less money, and despite the Finance Ministry saying it had turned the matter over to the Ministry of Health & Wellness, there has been no discussion; "we don't know what is happening, nobody is saying anything to us..."

Vice-President of the Midwives Association Nichole Smart told Radio Jamaica News that despite four letters being sent to the Ministry of Finance, and in-person visits, there has been no dialogue on the contentious issues.

There needs to be a renegotiation of the package, she argued, adding that "while that is happening they need to sort out what is supposed to be there... because we are being told that reason why we're having an issue is that the calculations are incorrect."

According to her, the midwives are being told that the regional health authorities are calculating the pay packages incorrectly while the the health authorties are insisting that they are making these calculations in keeping with the instructions given to them by the Ministry of Finance & The Public Service.

Services affected

Arising from the industrial action by the midwives, the South East Regional Health Authority (SEHRA) confirmed its services have been heavily affected.

Regional Director for SERHA Errol Greene reported that 170 of the more than 200 midwives who serve the region called in sick on Monday.

He said health facilities in SERHA have therefore had to go into emergency mode, with doctors and other nurses have been performing tasks usually carried out by midwives.

The other health regions were similarly affected by the sick out, Mr Greene said.