Nurses prepare forceful protests

TT nurses and midwives will continue to protest for their contractual benefits, announced the TT Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA) president Idi Stuart, during a march they held at St Ann's Psychiatric Hospital on Wednesday.

Stuart said that on Friday there will be a protest by nurses in Tobago and on July 1 they will hold a large demonstration in Port of Spain.
During the protest at the psychiatric hospital the nurses demanded better wages, job security, insurance benefits and better working conditions.

“Today is a continuation of protests nationwide that are taking place with nurses and midwives across the country. We had successful demonstrations trying to stand out and to encourage the government to at least consider our proposals," said Stuart.

The march in Port of Spain next Wednesday is scheduled to proceed from Queen's Park Savannah to the Ministry of Health with nurses from all TT hospitals.
"We hope that thousands of people will come out, thousands including our midwives and we hope that at least half of them will take to the streets," said the TTRNA president.

Stuart said in addition to the lack of attention from the Ministry of Health, the nurses were infuriated by stipends given to other groups.

"In this pandemic period when the government was asked if they would consider talent and personal allocations, particularly in the proposal that was submitted to the Ministry of Health in terms of relevance of benefits and safe health, it was surprising that the government said it has not been considered and this really outraged the nurses and midwives,” said Stuart.
He noted that midwives have worked hard and have been discriminated against during this pandemic period.

"I don't like going out and protesting, we really don't want to go out. We want to continue providing quality care to our patients, ”he insisted.

He said he is looking to solve the chronic water shortage that the St Ann's hospital has.
“I see that they have been trying to solve several of these problems over the years, but these are old buildings. All of these balloons are over a hundred years old each, so you can imagine they are in bad shape,” Stuart said.