As Barbados confronts a steep upward surge in violent crime, the island nation’s largest trade union body is sounding the alarm over a years-long backlog of unmet demands that are eroding the well-being and effectiveness of the country’s frontline public workers. In a press briefing held Thursday at the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) headquarters in St. Michael, General Secretary Dennis De Peiza outlined a litany of unresolved issues facing protective services officers and other public sector employees, warning that government inaction on longstanding pay and benefits grievances is triggering cascading harm across the country’s public services.
De Peiza emphasized that repeated delays in addressing substandard working conditions have already created a measurable decline in staff morale and output, consequences that extend far beyond individual workplaces. He argued that this stagnation is not only undermining ongoing public sector reform initiatives but also making government roles far less appealing to young people entering the Barbadian workforce. Compounding this challenge, he warned, unresolved worker grievances risk deepening already acute recruitment shortages across the protective services and other government agencies, a gap that could grow into a full-fledged brain drain of talented young workers.
“Many top graduates from the University of the West Indies and other regional tertiary institutions are already opting for overseas employment, where they are offered far more competitive working conditions and benefits,” De Peiza noted. “If public service conditions remain unaddressed, this outflow of skilled young workers will only accelerate, leaving critical government posts unfilled for months or even years.”
The CTUSAB leader highlighted specific complaints from protective services members, starting with delayed salary increments and unpaid compensation for acting appointments. The Barbados Police Association has raised repeated objections over withheld increments for new recruits who completed Course 144 at the regional police training academy, while prison officers across the island report they have not received pay adjustments they are owed for taking on temporary senior roles. De Peiza stressed that these failures are unacceptable for workers who are tasked with keeping the public safe amid a worsening crime wave.
“These are the men and women we put on the front line every single day, tasked with protecting our communities and upholding national security,” he said. “They should never have to wait for pay and benefits they have rightfully earned. The general public knows this is wrong, and it is past time the government acted.”
Another critical unaddressed issue De Peiza spotlighted is the lack of basic personal accident insurance for frontline personnel, including police officers, prison staff, and nurses, all of whom face elevated safety risks as violent incidents rise across the country. He called this coverage a non-negotiable necessity, not an unnecessary perk, noting it provides critical peace of mind for workers who put their lives at risk to serve the public, supporting both their morale and their commitment to their roles.
De Peiza also called out the government for failing to honor legally mandated allowances for public workers, pointing to the Police Allowance Regulations, which require driver allowances for officers who operate official vehicles, motorcycles, and oversee horses — a benefit that has not been distributed to eligible officers. For prison officers, who face extreme physical and psychological risk managing inmate populations and responding to violent incidents, similar unpaid allowances remain outstanding. De Peiza urged the government to fully enforce existing regulations, put clear monitoring systems in place, and follow through on commitments it has already made to public workers.
“If these provisions are already written into our regulations, there is no excuse for failing to honor them,” he said. “We need to approach public sector worker issues with far more seriousness, put the right systems in place, and make sure what needs to be done gets done.”
Beyond protective services, De Peiza also called for urgent changes to expand training opportunities for nurses across Barbados, noting that restrictions on professional development are holding back efforts to improve the country’s healthcare system. He renewed the union’s call for expanded nurse education programs, particularly at the Barbados Community College, which is the primary training hub for the country’s nursing workforce. On a more positive note, De Peiza confirmed that longstanding concerns over inadequate medical services for members of the Barbados Fire Service are currently being resolved, and the union expects the issue to be fully addressed in the near future.
Meanwhile, CTUSAB President Ryan Phillips offered measured support for two new government public safety initiatives announced amid the rising crime wave. Phillips said the government’s proposal to establish a dedicated gun court is a potentially effective step to crack down on firearm-related crime, which has been a key driver of the recent increase in violence. “We see this as a viable option to push back against the trafficking, possession, assembly, importation, and use of illegal firearms,” Phillips said. “Any step that helps eliminate this threat to public safety deserves serious consideration.”
Phillips also welcomed government plans to train Justices of the Peace in advanced arbitration, mediation, and conciliation techniques, which are designed to reduce community tensions and ease backlogs in the court system. But he called for the training program to be expanded beyond judicial officials to include trade union leaders and human resources professionals, who already have extensive experience in conflict resolution, grievance handling, and disciplinary proceedings. “With advanced training in alternative dispute resolution, these professionals would be well positioned to help defuse community tensions and deliver accessible conflict resolution services across the island,” Phillips added.