ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Officials from the regional airline, LIAT, and the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU) will meet on April 23 as they seek to settle a dispute over the company’s plan to sever more than two dozen employees.
Labour Minister Dr. Errol Cort met with both parties yesterday and a joint statement issued afterwards indicated that the “meeting agreed to a request from the Minister for a two week extension of the time-frame for a consultation between the company and select representatives of the company’s unions”.
It said that the consultation “is intended to provide an opportunity for additional dialogue between the unions and the company on the company’s business plans for 2012 and going forward”.
Last week, LIAT issued redundancy papers to 25 employees of its Cargo and QUIKPAK department sparking threats of strike action from the union.
The airline said the move is to facilitate the outsourcing of that service to the Antigua-based Caribbean Airport Services (CAS).
The ABWU described the move as premature, insisting that it urged LIAT to develop a comprehensive management plan to better handle layoffs when the airline closed its city ticket offices last year. (CMC)
