Orville Taylor | Money must reach the vulnerable

Last week, a word of caution and patience was extended to the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association (JMDA) and, after a wait of asinine proportions, the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) handed down its award. Never too late for a shower of rain, although it is doubtful if the trade unionists would use that nomenclature to describe the downpour.

It is over now and, unless it is faulty on a point of law, the decision is as binding as the conscience of a liar. Hopefully, no one will seek to impugn the dignity of the tribunal. Of course, the question of the vulnerability of its members to the whims of the minister is something which needs correcting.

Yes, we must find ways of protecting our gatekeeper.

More later. Now, like every other sensible Jamaican, I believe that the decision by our new National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) to rent the Digicel property for $120 million annually is something that has to be explained. It is a hard sell, even with the decision to scale back the expenditure and lease only one floor. Fact is, it is a lot of money. And ,why was it done in that way in the first instance?

More disturbing is that demographics and geography are militating against the government and the people who need the assistance the most. Numbers are unconfirmed, but there is divergence between what the official sources say and what we are hearing on the ground. At least one political representative is adamant that the overwhelming majority of persons in Westmoreland and Hanover who were touched by Melissa are still waiting in vain, without the benefit of listening to Bob Marley singing his big ‘chune’ in the background.

Of course, ‘kill him dead!’ this is a case of the people being punished for swinging the parish. Indeed, it has been said multiple times on political platforms.

Three parishes were seriously affected by Hurricane Melissa. These are St Elizabeth, where its capital, Black River, was almost wiped off the map; Westmoreland; and Hanover. Not lost on observers, and in particular supporters of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), is that these parishes swung sharply left and reverted to a bright orange hue.

Let me make it clear. Inasmuch as everything is an act of God, there is no spiritual correlation between the switch and the path of the hurricane. However, the growing narrative is that there is a correlation between the political complexion of the victims of the hurricane and the speed of the aid.

Indeed, this might very well be true. However, as stated in many other columns, correlation does not mean causation. The geography of many of the communities has made them particularly vulnerable and difficult to access.

Yet, this is Jamaica and, like everywhere else, people operate on the basis of what they believe to be true. Moreover, given the history of victimisation and nepotism that we have witnessed over the decades, the harder task for the government is to make those, especially the persons waiting for the help, believe it is not intentional.

Governments in democracies have to go through what 20th-century sociologist Jurgen Habermas calls ‘legitimation’. In essence, this is the process by which leaders constantly validate their authority and build trust. Real power lies in having some degree of control over the feelings and sentiments of those in whose name one rules.

In any universe, $120 million is a lot of money. For a country which has had its growth curve blown off course by Hurricane Melissa, and is struggling to get critical sectors back to pre-hurricane levels, every cent spent must be not only justified but, importantly, appear to be so.

But, why the Digicel building? A number of alternatives have been sent to my inbox. One suggestion is a government-owned edifice out west, which someone described as a ‘blue elephant’. Other building spaces have also come up on the radar. Using only the knowledge available to us, some of them seem like good choices. It might be expedience, or it may be that the other options require too much retrofitting. Whatever the reason, the public must know.

Now, back to the tribunal siding with the JMDA in its claim to be paid overtime payments to which the doctors believed they were entitled. They are not the only public-sector group to have been at loggerheads with government over the same topic. Other trade unions and staff associations are now taking note and marking debt.

Yet, in all of this heroism, as we begin National Heritage Week, we have missed a set of vulnerable among the vulnerables. Doubtless, the JMDA was backed by expert trade unionists, who possess skills not taught in medical school but which are critical.

Trade unionism is very hard work and, based on their salaries, unionists’ surnames should all be Halliburton. All officers of the major public-sector unions, including the Nurses Association of Jamaica and the Jamaica Civil Service Association, have other jobs and pensions.

But, who negotiates for the full-time unionists? Almost 25 years ago, I recall pushing both unemployment insurance and a redundancy fund based on the Barbadian model. Two of my bredren from the movement were, at best, nonchalant. One has since left the movement.

Tell me, how come we do not have universal health and life insurance for trade unionists? Where is the pension scheme based at the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions? Who are the representatives from wherever who can represent union workers in internal disputes?

More than 100 years after the Trade Union Act was passed, these questions should long have been answered. Dentists should never have bad breath, and tailors must be well clad.

Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.