NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC -The Bahamas Doctors Union (BDU) has signed a five-year industrial agreement with the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) following three years of negotiations with Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Michael Darville. The agreement was a long time coming, the BDU noted.
Junior doctors had been staging industrial action in support of the new agreement, which provides over 300 junior doctors with new benefits, including salary raises and amendments to medical insurance and maternity leave.
Darville called the agreement a symbol of the PHA’s recognition of the evolving needs of medical professionals and a demonstration of his ministry’s dedication to providing fair, competitive working conditions for staff members.
“Labour partners are essential to the success of the public healthcare system, and the Public Hospitals Authority remains dedicated to open, transparent, and respectful dialogue with all union representatives,” Darville said.
“This agreement includes salary increases for all Bahamas Doctors Union members with additional increments in years three, four, and five, ensuring physicians are fairly compensated for their critical role in the healthcare delivery system,” Darville said, adding that the Ministry of Finance will meet the financing of the agreement.
“Funding is always an issue, and this is one of the reasons why the Ministry of Finance was involved in the financial components associated with the agreement. Now that this agreement is behind us, the resources will be allocated from the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the commitments are met.
“As we move into the new budget allocation, I’m certain that this was taken into consideration, and we are definitely in a position to live up to our obligations,” he added.
BDU president Dr. Camille Glinton welcomed the agreement and noted, “It has been three years, and we’re here.
“We really had some milestones in this particular industrial agreement that we’re very proud of as a new executive body, and we look forward to continued negotiations. Everyone is excited and happy to be at this point.”
Labor and Public Service Minister Pia Glover-Rolle said the current state of labor in the country is stable. “As a result of consistently engaging in strong social dialogue with our unions, we have made stable progress.
“Progress is what we aim for, not perfection. There will always be matters that need to be resolved. It’s important for me as the minister of labor to ensure that we aren’t trying to resolve the same matters continually, but that we are moving forward, that we are evolving as the labor and workforce does.,” she said, adding that the industrial agreement is retroactive and will cover the period 2021 to June 30, 2026.
“We get back to the table immediately to prepare because we have been moving in a direction as a labor department to ensure that we’re not waiting for agreements to expire, but we’re being proactive,” Glover-Rolle said.
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