‘We Want Our Pension’: KHMHA Workers Union Meets with Government

The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Workers Union (KHMHAWU) met with representatives of the Briceño Administration to press for pension benefits on par with other public sector groups. This highly requested meeting comes after union members took to the streets to demonstrate a ‘lack of communication’ from the government, according to the KHMHAWU Vice President Dr Alain Gonzalez.

“It seems like every time we want a meeting with the government, we have to go to a demonstration… We have communicated with the government three times, and they have lacked to communicate back to us; they haven’t returned our emails, and they haven’t come back to us. And so we are like, ‘these people are not taking us serious,’ and so this is why we get to the point of demonstrating and doing the plan of action because we have to make sure we are being heard,” Gonzalez said on Tuesday during a morning episode of Open Your Eyes.

Union President Andrew Baird met with members outside the hospital before the closed-door meeting to reinforce the union’s position. He made it clear that pensions remain the union’s top priority.

“We are focused, and as you heard just now, our focus is that we want our pension,” Baird told News 5. “They have added the coast guard to their pension; they have added the grant-aided teachers to receive full pension from the government, and we deserve the same treatment. We are equal among animals.”

The union is calling for immediate progress on their pension demands to match benefits offered to other public service entities. The talks will involve Minister of Health Kevin Bernard, Director of Public Health Dr. Melissa Diaz Musa, and Financial Secretary Joseph Waight.

When asked about his expectations heading into the meeting, Baird said he anticipates a possibly rough start to the talks. “First of all, I think it will start with a blame game,” he stated.