The Cabinet received a letter from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) indicating its unwillingness to participate in any further consultations with the Cabinet on the issue of the recent policy position announced by the Cabinet that frontline workers and workers who are likely to come into contact with vising Tourists and who remain unvaccinated will be required to undergo a rapid test once every 14 days, failing which they will be asked to stay at home or will be barred from conducting their trade with the Tourists.
The TUC letter falsely premised its argument on what it called “mandatory” vaccination and testing. The TUC noted that Cabinet had already announced the $50 fee it intended to charge workers for taking the Covid-19 test, down from $150 since the TUC indicated that the fee was burdensome.
The Cabinet noted the TUC’s leadership position; however, the TUC could not reasonably expect the Cabinet to halt its successful decision-making until the TUC changed its mind. Following further intense discussions, the Cabinet decided to eliminate the $50 fee for all public sector employees.
The Cabinet would provide Government employees, whether employed by the Central Government, its Statutory Organizations, or its Public Authorities or Public Corporations—who remain unvaccinated, to take the option of a MoH prescribed Rapid Antigen Covid-19 test once every 14 days at no cost to the government employee.
This Cabinet decision removes the cost factor which the TUC claimed was a harsh burden requiring consultations. The Cabinet reminds that the vaccine will prevent hospitalization and death; and, further, that 90% of those who are falling prey to the virus and get hospitalized remain unvaccinated.
Institutions in which people are housed, to include the Prisons, the Fiennes Institute, the Clarevue Hospital, the Home for Girls, the Boys Training School, and others will have the same policy applied to employees also, and to the adults living within.
