By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

Lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Nurses Union (BNU) president Muriel Lightbourn says the union is pushing to sign a new industrial agreement by the end of October.

Ms Lightbourne made the announcement during a press conference yesterday, where she outlined the union’s priorities.

The current agreement ends October and BNU officials are hoping that talks won’t exceed beyond the deadline.

Ms Lightbourn added that efforts to draft the new agreement are already underway, with consultations ongoing among nurses at various institutions to gather their input.

“I’m hoping to sign that before the end of October,” she said during a press conference yesterday.

She explained that, as agreed during an executive meeting, letters were sent inviting union executives to participate in the process, however the Secretary General responded only to wish her success, reflecting the tensions that have been ongoing within the union.

Despite this, Ms Lightbourn said the meetings with nurses have been productive.

“We are now working on an industrial agreement. Hopefully we will be able to have a draft together that we can send out to our members before we would submit it into our strategic partners,” she said.

Ms Lightbourn stressed that the agreement must address more than salaries.

“The new agreement we are looking really, to improve the quality of nurses,” she said.”Of course, we going to be asking for an increase in salary, that goes without saying—but we also need to improve the quality of our nursing by asking for more training for our nurses.”

“We also want timely promotions for our nurses. We are also looking out for our nurses that are just coming in to be appointed on a timely fashion—not just appointed, but appointed and confirmed in a timely fashion. These are the things that we’re looking at,” she said.

She highlighted the financial struggles of nurses, particularly those posted to Family Islands.

Ms Lightbourn said these nurses often spend hundreds of dollars from their modest salaries to travel to New Providence just to access their pay, and urged the government to address these long-standing challenges.

Ms Lightbourn also pointed to the difficulty nurses face in securing housing loans despite holding associate or bachelor’s degrees, and said the union is focused on creating conditions where nurses no longer feel forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. 

The last industrial agreement was signed in 2022, following an earlier deal in 2020. That agreement provided salary increases, added insurance benefits, and retention bonuses of more than $3,000 depending on criteria. Entry-level salaries started at $26,000 per annum, with the potential to rise to $30,000.

Ms Lightbourn said that despite internal disagreements, the union must focus on the task at hand, saying: “That is reason why I don’t have no time, no effort, none of that for the back and forth. We have to move and move together.”