The National Union of Public Workers’ (NUPW) is calling on the Government shareholders of cash-strapped regional airline LIAT to pay its Barbados-based employees.
Acting general secretary Delcia Burke, whose union represents 30 Barbadian pilots, has expressed concern that those workers have not been paid since March after being laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burke explained that even though the workers are based in Barbados, because LIAT is based is Antigua the workers are employed under the conditions and laws of that country.
She said Antigua did not have an unemployment benefit and the workers had last been paid in March for February.
To make matters worse, she said LIAT had decided to extend the layoffs for a further three months.
However, Burke said it was now incumbent on the Government shareholders of LIAT to come to the aid of those workers.
She maintained that they should not be left “out to dry.”
“LIAT workers were laid off since March. They received February pay in March and they have not received anything since. They are based in Barbados but work for LIAT Antigua, which apparently does not have unemployment benefits so they have not been able to work and without any kind of money since they got paid in March for February,” Burke explained.
“Before COVID-19 LIAT owed the workers a whole set of money. They owed them back pay from two and a half years ago, all kinds of things they owned them. I guess right now LIAT has no money to pay because of COVID-19 and the airports are closed to commercial flights.”
Burke said two members of the same household — a husband and wife — had been laid off from LIAT.
“They had to read in the newspaper, because no one contacted them, that LIAT is extending the layoffs for another three months,” she noted.
She said while LIAT had kept its base in Antigua opened, a decision was taken to close the base in Barbados.
Burke said the NUPW had tried on several occasion to have a meeting with LIAT to find a solution.
She said after several failed attempts, it was now left up to the Caribbean governments to come to the rescue of the workers.
“We have tried to meet with LIAT in the past to discuss issues on their behalf. We met with LIAT once early this year and they were supposed to get back to us in two weeks and they never did. Even now with everything that is going on they have not contacted NUPW although they know we represent the pilots based in Barbados,” Burke complained.
“I believe that the Governments, the shareholders of LIAT should find some way to compensate these workers. I understand that things are tight but you can’t leave them and hang them out to dry. I believe the shareholder Governments should get together and pay these workers some money.
“I also think there are a lot of people who have not received their pensions, who have won cases in court against LIAT and who have not been paid and I think the shareholders owe it to these workers to sit down find out what it is that LIAT owes these people and pay them,” Burke added.
She said the pilots were also in jeopardy of losing their licences if they did not fly an aircraft soon.
