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While Caribbean leaders understand the importance of having a regional airline, the Secretary General of the Antigua and Barbuda Worker’s Union (ABWU), Senator David Massiah, highlights the government’s obligation to address the severance of the former workers. Senator Massiah emphasizes that workers’ severance is a crucial issue that must be addressed to finalize the revival of LIAT.<\/p>\n
He urges governments not to politicize the issue and to ensure that affected workers receive reasonable compensation. St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves recently criticized InterCaribbean Airways for its service and is awaiting proposals for a new LIAT.<\/p>\n
Aviation Minister Juan Edghill of Guyana also complained about the Turks and Caicos-based airline, warning of possible sanctions if flight delays were not sufficiently alleviated. Caribbean customers have expressed frustration over long flight delays, which have caused them to miss international connecting flights and purchase new tickets.<\/p>\n
The Antiguan and Barbudan government is pushing for the resuscitation of LIAT, but the issue of severance payments to former LIAT workers remains a contentious point among regional trade unions. Senator Massiah stresses the importance of involving workers in the discussions for any viable air travel transport in the Caribbean region. He also expresses concern over the silence from Cleveland Seaforth, the court-appointed administrator for the cash-strapped regional airline, LIAT (1974) Limited.<\/p>\n
Senator Massiah urges the administrator to communicate transparently with the union and explain what the liquidation means for former and present airline employees and the way forward. He also demands clarity from the government and the administrator on how to proceed regarding the issue of severance payments for affected workers.<\/p>\n
Senator Massiah further highlights the importance of protecting the severance rights of those working, as international conventions safeguard these rights.\u00a0LIAT, primarily owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, went into administration in July 2020 due to mounting debt and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While Caribbean leaders understand the importance of having a regional airline, the Secretary General of the Antigua and Barbuda Worker’s Union (ABWU), Senator David Massiah, highlights the government’s obligation to address the severance of the former workers. Senator Massiah…","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":300170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[272,36,77,235,9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation","category-economy-development","category-homepage","category-homepage-carousel","category-news","category-regional"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n