The government has reiterated its offer of a 32 percent severance payment to former employees of LIAT, following years of stalled negotiations.
The proposal, originally put forward by the government after the fall of LIAT 1974, was rejected by the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU), which continues to demand full severance compensation for the displaced workers.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne, speaking on the sidelines of this week’s launch of LIAT 2020, stated that the government is prepared to cover up to 32 percent of the severance payments, which aligns with the country’s shareholding in the defunct airline.
He emphasised that, although the government is not legally obligated to compensate the workers, it is now taking steps to offer the severance directly to the affected employees, bypassing further negotiations with the union.
“We had wanted to do this at least three and a half years ago but, unfortunately, we have not had the cooperation of the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union and we have now taken the decision that we will go directly to staff.
“At this point we’re not prepared to argue with anyone so it doesn’t matter what the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union has to say,” he explained.
Prime Minister Browne also announced that the government plans to allocate up to EC$10 million by the end of the year to begin the first round of severance payments to the former LIAT staff. He urged the workers to seriously consider accepting the offer, noting that doing so would not prevent them from seeking additional compensation from other shareholder governments.
Furthermore, Browne called on other shareholder governments of LIAT 1974 Ltd to fulfil their obligations to all workers, not just their own citizens.
“Barbados itself is a far wealthier country than Antigua and Barbuda. I am hoping that they will see the need to follow our lead and to make additional sums available to staff of LIAT system-wide, not only the Barbadian workers,” Browne said.
He added that all shareholding governments should make some form of payment available in relation to the share that they held in LIAT 1974 before its collapse.
Meanwhile, the ABWU maintains that 100 percent severance is the only acceptable settlement for the former workers.
The ABWU said in 2023 that the decision of the Barbados government to concede to the workers’ claim for 100 percent severance validates the workers’ and unions’ stance that full severance is the only reasonable settlement.
However, despite this clear precedent set by the Mottley administration, the union claims the government of Antigua and Barbuda has disgracefully reduced its so-called “compassionate” offer from its original 50 percent offer to 32 percent, with a looming threat to completely withdraw any form of settlement if ex-employees do not accept it.
