Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne says his administration is prepared to negotiate directly with the former employees of the regional airline, LIAT (1974) Limited that went bankrupt earlier this year.
The Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU) has been calling on the government, which had been a major shareholder in the airline, to negotiate an amicable settlement, but the government has accused the union of not wanting to negotiate in good faith.
Speaking at the ceremony on Tuesday evening for the arrival of two E-145 jet aircraft that will form part of the new Antigua-based airline, LIAT 2020 Limited, Browne said that the door remains open for direct negotiations with the workers regarding the severance payments. The government had originally offered a 50 per cent compassion payment in cash and bonds to the former employees that Browne said amounts to EC$110 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents). The ABWU had said in the past that it would continue to seek the 100 per cent severance payment to the former airline employees.
