The Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) condemns Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s latest attempt to tarnish the Union's reputation and undermine workers’ confidence in the Union. On Thursday, November 7, Browne, speaking on a Facebook livestream, maliciously purported that employees of Sandals were working for a “shell company” and accused the Union of allowing this to happen.
In reality, the Union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement is with the legally registered entity that operates the local Sandals resort — the Dickenson Bay Hotel Management Ltd. As a responsible and prudent institution, the ABWU conducts thorough due diligence to ensure that underhanded business practices do not put workers’ entitlements and equity at risk. This is in stark contrast to the Browne administration, which has actively sought to deprive workers of their entitlements, as demonstrated in the LIAT issue.
Kem Riley: ABWU President
If, as the Prime Minister alleges, the Union were facilitating employment with a "shell company," then this would mean that the Government's Inland Revenue Department has been collecting taxes from a so-called "shell company." It would also mean that Social Security, Medical Benefits, and Education Levy contributions have been collected from a shell company. Is this the sort of business practice that the Browne administration endorses? Doesn’t the Government, more than anyone else, have a responsibility to prevent such practices?
Gaston Browne, if you were genuinely interested in the security of the workers’ terminal benefits you would have heeded the ABWU’s advice to urgently enact legislation for the establishment of a Severance Protection Fund. But we know very well that workers’ interests have never been a priority for your Administration. The men and women who toil every day to build this country are treated as pawns in your myopic agenda to attack businesses and other institutions.
Let us be clear, Gaston Browne is a bold-faced malicious liar and a divisive manipulator! This attack on the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union is nothing more than an attempt to sow distrust among workers, employers and unions. Gaston Browne would wish for workers to see him and his administration as their sole protector, but workers know better. They know that power and independence lie in solidarity and in the strength of their Union.
Furthermore, we call on the business community to condemn Browne’s repeated attacks on businesses across the country. Since when has it become acceptable for a Prime Minister to publicly berate, threaten and bully the business community? Certainly, there are established mechanisms to resolve disputes, and these should be used rather than resorting to public conflicts. This behavior is indicative of a desperate and broke administration seeking to pressure the business community for monies that would be spent on anything other than public goods.
We call on the Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants Association, The Employers’ Federation, the Association of Small Business Owners and the Antigua and Barbuda Hotels and Tourism Association to denounce these attacks. Sandals may be the target today, but tomorrow it may be a small, defenseless business enterprise.
To the workers of Sandals, we reassure you that the ABWU operates with distinction and diligence in defending your rights and negotiating on your behalf. We are the Union of choice throughout the country, and we hold our members in the highest regard. Let us remember that we are the workers who are powering the economy: together we will rise!
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