Workers at LIAT’s ticketing office in Antigua & Barbuda will be among dozens across the region out of work soon, now that the unions have agreed with the airline’s management that staff cuts cannot be avoided. The employees here will be sent home within the next few weeks. The plan by LIAT to close all its city offices across the region as part of a move to save EC$3 million annually, had initially been opposed by the workers’ bargaining agents. However, Head of the Council of LIAT Trade Unions Chester Humphrey revealed after a meeting in Barbados recently, which involved the airline’s Board of Directors, and unions representing the employees, that they had reached consensus on the matter.
“The meeting concluded with a broad realization that it appears that the closure of these offices is inevitable,” he said in an interview with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), adding that LIAT had indicated that given its overall performance, the restructuring was urgent. Humphrey, who is also president of the Caribbean Congress of Labour, said the aim now is to ensure that the affected workers get a fair deal.
“What we have to ensure as trade unions is that the process is fair, is transparent, is objective, and that we can cushion the effects for the workers. That’s our responsibility and I can tell you that we are grasping that responsibility firmly with both hands,” the trade union leader said. “But there are limits in terms of what we can do. Survivability of the airline has always been a central question anytime you talk about LIAT and it is even more so now given the very difficult financial and economic situation that we face within the region.” Humphreys said that while the unions regretted the decision to lay off the workers, they would ensure that the airline, whose three main shareholder governments are – Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda and St. Vincent & the Grenadines – would adhere to best practices as they negotiate severance packages. The company has already begun closing its city offices, beginning with the Port of Spain, Trinidad office in January.