The St. Lucia government says it has entered into an agreement with non-management employees of the cash-strap regional airline, LIAT, who were terminated by the closure of the company in 2020 to settle long-standing termination payments to them.
St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre, delivering his first budget statement since presenting the EC$1.84 billion fiscal package to Parliament last month, said the government is also “in discussions with the former management staff, including the pilots, to arrive at an acceptable settlement.
“Mr Speaker, our decision to settle these outstanding payments is yet another demonstration of our continued commitment to the upliftment of the welfare of the workers,” said Pierre.
The airline is owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said previously that a decision had been taken that would allow Barbados and SVG to turn over their shares in LIAT to St. John’s for one EC dollar.
