Employees of the National Insurance Board (NIB) throughout the country reportedly used their morning tea break yesterday to vent their frustrations. Speaking on the front lawn of the Corporation’s Baillou Hill Road Headquarters, the President of the Union of Public Officers, Marvin Duncombe told the Journal that the major bone of contention is an unsigned five-year Industrial Agreement.
Mr. Duncombe said, “We are dissatisfied with the operational practices of National Insurance and the disingenuous nature in which the Board is operating. We continue to see, every single day, that whatever they put on the table or offer our offer to people, is removed off very quickly, and we don’t understand exactly who’s leading the NIB.
“I can tell you our people, we are presently in negotiations, and we’ve been negotiating for the last six weeks, and it appears to me as if every time they offer something, they are being disingenuous and taking it back from the people.”
Mr. Duncombe claimed that NIB is prepared to give the Union nothing in years one through four of the Agreement and perhaps in the fifth year, a $2,000 lump sum payment.
“They had initially put a much more decent offer on the table, but the night after they made the offer, I got a call from the Director to say that they had made a bad mistake and that that offer is no longer available. We had already written to our membership to say that we are prepared to meet with them and to discuss the offer. We find that it is very disingenuous for them to do what they have done, this continues to be the modus operandi of this particular Director,” said the Union leader.
NIB workers are also said to be peeved over a slow processing claims system.
Mr. Duncombe said, “we’re standing up and saying that we are not prepared to allow The Board to treat us as if we are mistakes or illegitimate children. We have worked very hard. We have carried our system, the V-3 System, three years ago, what was brought to us. It does not work, people are not able to get their claims, and yet we are bearing the burden of it, trying to help the claimers get their benefits and yet, they continue to say that they are going to fix it. It has not been fixed.
“ We are not prepared to work with this system anymore. They must fix it, or make a decision on what they’re going to do, whether they are going to get a new one or not, but we are not prepared to work with it, while they continue to tell us that they’re making mistakes after mistakes, after mistakes. We are standing up strong and firm in this matter.” he said.
Mr. Duncombe has promised that his members will continue to do whatever is necessary to ensure there is a decent offer on the table and their concerns are addressed.
Calls were made to NIB Director Nicola Virgil-Rolle, those calls were not returned up to press time.
