Clarevue staff take protest action to Ministry of Health, while Peters calls for a fairer distribution of payments to workers

Protest action continues for a second consecutive day today, May 4, as Clarevue Psychiatric Hospital workers demonstrate for monies owed and against deplorable and unsatisfactory working conditions.

This morning, the protesters took their action into St. John’s City, walking, chanting and carrying placards down to the Ministry of Health’s headquarters on High and Long Streets.

Joan Peters, President of the Antigua and Barbuda Public Service Association (ABPSA) – the union that represents the workers – says they are fed up with Government’s continued promises with no meaningful action to address their concerns.

Peters reports that negotiations between the Browne Administration and workers at the mental-health facility are still at square one.

She says the workers downed tools because staff at the Fiennes Institute – the Government’s senior-care home – received about 50 percent of what they are owed.

According to Peters, the workers at Clarevue are owed for a longer period, and she believes that outstanding monies should have been paid across the board.

She notes that workers who are made comfortable will give their maximum to ensure that the organization runs at its optimum.

Peters says a fairer system should be put in place to ensure that those workers who are owed for longer periods also receive monies once payments are being made.

Since the psychiatric facility does not bring in any income for the Government, it is being neglected, the ABPSA President opines.

She adds that Ministry of Health officials and the staff of the facility do not seem to be working in tandem to deal with the plethora of issues affecting the workers.