ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, September 08, 2010 – LIAT’s management announces that it is moving to put in place measures for implementation of a new LIAT/LIALPA Collective Bargaining Agreement.
This follows the July 05, 2010 ruling of a three-man arbitration panel headed by retired Barbadian jurist Sir Leroy Inniss QC, concerning a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Company and its pilots.
LIAT’s CEO Brian Challenger noted that while certain matters are still being clarified, the arbitration award nevertheless provides the opportunity for a new chapter in the often acrimonious relationship between LIAT and LIALPA.
“We believe that that the provisions of the arbitration ruling provide both parties with a blueprint for resolving the many issues that have traditionally plagued our relationship,” Challenger said.
“Based on the ruling from the arbitration panel and following several exchanges of communication with LIALPA we have prepared a draft Collective Agreement which we hope will form the basis for review by both sides and allow for an early signature of the agreement once the remaining areas of clarification are resolved.
“We have already taken action to implement those aspects of the award which had a clear timeline for implementation and we are putting in place the mechanisms to facilitate the necessary administrative and logistical changes, some of which are quite significant to our operations, in order to achieve earliest possible implementation of the agreement,” Mr. Challenger added.
Challenger noted that the company has been in communication with LIALPA with regard to the possible signing of the new Collective Agreement and it is hoped that planned discussions with LIALPA would enable an early identification of a date to sign the agreement.
The arbitration panel was set up following an agreement brokered by the Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in July 2009 in an effort to settle long-standing industrial relations issues between the Company and its pilots.
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