Grenada strike has consequences for local LIAT workers – trade unionist

The Union representing employees of Leeward Islands Air Transportation (LIAT) in Dominica said it will send a damning letter to the company expressing its dissatisfaction in the manner in which it handled a strike action in Grenada.

LIAT workers in Grenada had taken industrial action in a bid to deal with a number of outstanding issues including working conditions and wages; hence foreign workers were hired to do the job.

General Secretary of the Waterfront and Allied Workers Union Kertiste Augustus said the issue has consequences for the LIAT workers here.

This posture constitutes a direct threat to all LIAT workers throughout the LIAT chain and this negative reaction by the Grenada management of LIAT must be condemned in the strongest possible form and should not be encouraged by the senior management team in Antigua, for to do otherwise will have serious consequences for the industrial relation systems which we the trade unions and management of LIAT have developed and nurtured throughout the years, he said.

The leadership of WAWU is calling on the chief executive to step in urgently and require the management in Grenada to steadfastly comply with the provisions of the negotiated agreement and to observe and follow the procedure for the resolution of grievances and dispute contained in the collective agreement.

“The solidarity of the WAWU is guaranteed to the workers of Grenada and rest assured that we in the WAWU shall be monitoring the development with great interest and readiness,” Augustus noted.

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4 Comments

  1. lor
    August 11, 2010

    I’m glad that LIAT sent people from Antigua to work in Grenada to move passengers to their destination. What can i say other than LIAT plays a very important role in the integration of peoples in the region.

    LIAT needs to make good negotiations with it’s staff to ensure this does not happen anymore, we need LIAT.

  2. THUNDER HORSE
    August 10, 2010

    @Bobbo: Thats to show all how important LIAT is to the region, Caribbean people on a whole are of an aggressive nature, you cannot say that LIAT workers have a nasty behavior or they are rude, I resent that.

    When it comes to Terms and Conditions in adhering to Airlines policies, LIAT is number One in the Region and people become angry because things don’t go their way. You cannot blame the Airline staff for doing their job.

    It’s a Caribbean stigma that we fail to educate ourselves about our various businesses policies. We always fail to read the fine print, and in the end we feel stupid in the courts when we charge LIAT for foolishness.

    Let the STRIKE GO ON.

  3. Bobbo
    August 10, 2010

    While the rights of workers must be respected and LIAT as an employer must follow the grievance procedures as defined by the collective agreement, when it is all said and done regional paying passengers deserve better service; poor service is what drives passengers to behave in an aggressive manner. We are not by nature violent people so writer please do not short sell our region’s people. We deserve better; the protection of workers’ rights must be balanced with an obligation to give paying passengers value for money. The attitude of many LIAT staff across the region leaves much to be desired and this must be addressed in conjunction with dealing with workers issues. We must also cut out this nasty habit of treating our own with contempt as is being suggested in closing the airports. Who do you think would benefit from your proposed action? We all rely on the ability to move freely in order to keep our economies going (i.e. tourism, commerce etc). We can’t expect to keep begging other countries to help us if we are not prepared to act responsibly. Let’s therefore promote a balanced, solution-based and responsible approach to dealing with this very delicate issue.

  4. THUNDER HORSE
    August 10, 2010

    All LIAT employess should strike, they go through alot a verbal abuse and take alot of nonesense from caribbean travellers, it’s time for the agents to have a voice and if this is the way they can do it then go ahead. People need to see the importance of a REGIONAL CARRIER and the importance of it’s staff.

    We closing all De Airport in the Caribbean if we have too, LIAT need to strike for various reasons:

    less pay for dealing with abusive passengers
    caring too much for ungrateful people
    Passengers need to their own travel insurance when traveling
    long working hours with less pay
    stress management program for staff
    self defense programs for staff
    Police security at LIAT counters for abusive crazy a** people
    To educate illiterate Caribbean people about travel

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