Prime Minister Gaston Browne said he will not singlehandedly engage any unions about a 100% severance pay for former LIAT workers.
Instead, he said if the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union continues to insist that the ABLP led administration is obligated to pay full severance, other shareholder governments would have to come on board.
Browne said it cannot be that Antigua and Barbuda owns 32% of LIAT shares but is expected to pay all severance owed-roughly EC $80M.
“The ABWU rejected the 50% offer because they are waiting for the UPP to give them 100%. I want to know if they are waiting for another five years…As far as I am concerned, we did what we could and they continue to be unreasonable,” Browne said over the weekend
He said the unions placed the “severance” burden squarely on Antigua and Barbuda, failing to make these demands to the other shareholder governments.
“I suspect there may have to be a joint effort in which to engage all of the shareholder governments because I don’t see us entering into any discussions with unions about paying 100%. So, what we may have to do when they come, and I know they are coming, is to say to them bring all the other shareholder governments,” he said
He said too, that it appears Antigua and Barbuda is on its own where the reviving of LIAT is concerned.
“They are not taking into consideration that the government perused a herculean effort to try and save LIAT,” Browne said
Adding, ”just Friday we remitted a further USD $1M into LIAT 1974 to fix one of the engines of the plane which has not worked since Covid…so you can see the commitment. It is not just for Antigua and Barbuda, it is about helping regional people to connect,”.
Meanwhile Browne said it seems that Antigua and Barbuda is standing alone in terms of having an entity owned by a group of governments
He said most governments are of the view that there is sufficient private assets within the region to service the Caribbean and they don’t see the need for any investment into a regional airline
Prime Minister Gaston Browne said he will not singlehandedly engage any unions about a 100% severance pay for former LIAT workers.
Instead, he said if the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union continues to insist that the ABLP led administration is obligated to pay full severance, other shareholder governments would have to come on board.
Browne said it cannot be that Antigua and Barbuda owns 32% of LIAT shares but is expected to pay all severance owed-roughly EC $80M.
“The ABWU rejected the 50% offer because they are waiting for the UPP to give them 100%. I want to know if they are waiting for another five years…As far as I am concerned, we did what we could and they continue to be unreasonable,” Browne said over the weekend
He said the unions placed the “severance” burden squarely on Antigua and Barbuda, failing to make these demands to the other shareholder governments.
“I suspect there may have to be a joint effort in which to engage all of the shareholder governments because I don’t see us entering into any discussions with unions about paying 100%. So, what we may have to do when they come, and I know they are coming, is to say to them bring all the other shareholder governments,” he said
He said too, that it appears Antigua and Barbuda is on its own where the reviving of LIAT is concerned.
“They are not taking into consideration that the government perused a herculean effort to try and save LIAT,” Browne said
Adding, ”just Friday we remitted a further USD $1M into LIAT 1974 to fix one of the engines of the plane which has not worked since Covid…so you can see the commitment. It is not just for Antigua and Barbuda, it is about helping regional people to connect,”.
Meanwhile Browne said it seems that Antigua and Barbuda is standing alone in terms of having an entity owned by a group of governments
He said most governments are of the view that there is sufficient private assets within the region to service the Caribbean and they don’t see the need for any investment into a regional airline
I agree with Browne what happened with the other gov’ts that enjoyed the sweet in LIAT hay days?