By Orville Williams
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has urged the country’s workforce against taking industrial action over public sector negotiations, calling the move potentially “self-defeating”.
“I ask our workers to be reasonable. I ask you to engage us constructively, because we’re not taking the position that we’re not giving any [pay] increases – the issue is how much,” Browne told dozens of supporters decked out in red and gathered at the VC Bird bust during his Labour Day address on Monday.
The PM’s Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) shared the stage with its affiliate trade union, the Antigua Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU), for their annual Labour Day rally. Both institutions focused largely on what they called the “destructive” impact of protests, apparent nefarious efforts to undermine the government and the gains made among workers under the stewardship of the current administration.
Browne’s comments come on the heels of industrial action by both teachers and nurses in recent weeks, and amid threats of similar actions to come from other public servants.
“If you make demands that are unreasonable, that are beyond the means of the government, it will be self-defeating because you will force the government to retrench.
“On the other hand, it could be inflationary, in that if prices increase too soon and by too large an amount, it could increase [the cost of living] – that, again, would be self-defeating,” he added.
The teachers only returned to the classrooms just over a week ago, after nearly two weeks of disruptions to schools, including a postponed recommencement after the Easter holidays and three consecutive days of sit-ins. This, while their representation – the Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers (AB&UT) – fought for resolutions over position reclassifications and school security, among others.
Though an agreement was eventually reached, the PM pointed to their actions as ‘what not to do’ with respect to negotiations, noting the impact on the nation’s students as a result.
“Just recently with the teachers, I said to them, ‘all of the demands that you’ve made, we’ve satisfied those demands [and] even before we satisfied them, we gave a commitment to satisfy them’.
“We did not argue that we did not wish to meet the demands, and yet still, many of them took the destructive action of striking for almost two weeks, literally depriving our students of two weeks of contact time.
“I say to the people of this country, to the workers of this country, that type of behaviour is self-defeating. There is no value in fighting a government that is cooperating with you,” he went on.
That sentiment was echoed by President of the AT&LU, Wigley George, who stopped just short of blasting the teachers for their actions and noted the domino effect they could have on other public sector groups.
“You would have noticed lately that there are moves afoot to mobilise operatives to cause confusion. The teachers started and they got what they wanted. Now, it’s the nurses [although] they are more responsible, because it seems they are going the route of dialogue.
“I want to tell you, if this continues, after the nurses it is going to be the people who work in the various ministries. They’ll probably call the police out…Public Works, CBH, all of those [workers], so they can get what they are seeking.
“They feel because it’s only nine seats…they can cause any disruption in this country to [unseat] the Labour Party, [but] that will never happen,” George declared, referring to the nine seats the ABLP administration currently holds.
The government is facing pressure from the Antigua and Barbuda Nurses Association (ABNA), as its members are agitating for better working conditions, outstanding overtime and allowance pay, and more effective equipment.
“I’m hoping that when the other unions come forward to negotiate, they will have a more constructive approach and be reasonable with their demands, to make sure that we can give increases that are sustainable,” PM Browne also said during his address.
A press statement from the AT&LU, in recognition of Labour Day 2023, claims that the union has concluded 31 bargaining unit negotiations between March 1 last year and the present day, resulting in salary and/or wage increases between 5.5 and 12 percent for nearly 8,000 workers.
