Frustrated nurses in the public health system on Monday wore black clothing to work as a sign of protest over prolonged issues with non-payment for overtime hours and have told the Government to settle the matter this month.

The dress code came at the request of the Jamaica Midwives’ Association, the Nurses’ Association of Jamaica (NAJ), and the Jamaica Enrolled Nurses’ Association.

The groups cited that, by not being paid monies owed since December 2022, the lives of their members have been negatively impacted.

It was not made clear how long the nurses plan to wear black to work and whether they are considering other actions that could disrupt the public health sector.

Dawn Marie Richards, NAJ president, said that nurses feel the authorities are deliberately delaying the payments. She shared that the problem has been affecting the system as nurses are reluctant to do overtime.

“In this time when we are suffering from a shortage of nursing personnel, overtime is not something nurses are asked to do, it is something that persons are forced to do because we don’t have the staff,” Richards said.

“We see all of this as delay tactics and we are saying to the powers that be that the monies need to be paid,” the NAJ president said, highlighting that the nurses have made certain requests that have not been fulfilled.

“What we are expecting is that our request will be implemented. The challenge is that, coming out of a compensation review that was effective April 2022, the extra hours work policy had been disseminated since November 2024 with an effective date of August 20, 2024. Nurses would have had to be working and doing their overtime just the same with no change in the payment rates for overtime. We were asked to wait on the policy. There has been no implementation date up to now and we go into a new financial year in 2025,” Richards pointed out.

She said that when the policy was disseminated in November last year it did not come with any specific instructions, which created loopholes for delays in payment to take place.

Richards said that the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew, Bellevue Hospital in Kingston, and public health institutions in the four regions islandwide have been trying to implement procedures for nurses to meet requirements so that they can be paid. However, they are constantly daunted by roadblocks.

“There are some regions where, every time forms come out and the nurses fill out the forms, they are returned and there is a change to the form. We need to have an implementation date and people need to know when they will be paid their retroactive, but we are not hearing anything,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“On Wednesday, we had an executive meeting and the decision was taken at the executive that we will be writing to the regions, the University Hospital and the Bellevue Hospital, recommending that the policy be implemented in February and we want people to start being paid at the new rate now and for retroactive payments to be made in March.

“That letter was sent on Friday. We have not had any feedback. To register their dissatisfaction the nurses decided they would wear black today (Monday). The plan was not to stop working but it is about time the nurses get the money. It’s enough delay tactics,” Richards said.

On February 7, the Jamaica Midwives’ Association issued a statement indicating that the three nursing groups would embark on what it described as a “full blackout” on Monday, February 10.

The statement said that several attempts to correct or seek redress on many issues have fallen on deaf ears but the nurses were adamant that they will not be letting up.

“Despite numerous promises and assurances, we are yet to receive our rightful compensation. The delayed payment has caused financial hardship and distress to us and still we continue to provide essential healthcare services to our country.

“On Monday, February 10, 2025 all midwives across the island of Jamaica are asked to adorn themselves professionally in full black for work/duty. Together we believe that a stronger message will be sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and the Ministry of Health and all four regions,” the statement read.

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton told the Observer on Monday that he has asked the permanent secretary in his ministry to seek and provide an update on the matter.

“I have not gotten a report yet so I am waiting for the feedback,” the minister said.