ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda Monday observed Labour Day with a senior trade unionist demanding an increase in the national minimum wage, while Prime Minister Gaston Browne has pledged to raise the minimum wage and finalize a new collective bargaining agreement by next year
The General Secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU) told a Labour rally here that the national minimum wage should be increased to EC$13.50 (One EC dollar = 0.37 cents) per hour, citing spiraling inflation and the economic strain on working-class families.
“Our cost of living… is choking the working class,” Massiah told the rally, criticizing the government’s failure to act decisively on inflation. He said that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) had risen 7.1 percent in the past year, as evidence of worsening conditions for ordinary citizens.
Messiah, also an opposition legislator, said the current minimum wage of nine EC dollars per hour was insufficient and outdated, noting that the figure in neighboring countries such as Barbados and St Kitts-Nevis was higher.
“They are killing you and telling you that you must work for nine dollars. We say no to that,” Massiah said, calling for the immediate convening of the Minimum Wage Advisory Committee, which by law should meet every two years to review economic trends and propose adjustments.
“This government is not interested in seeing that you can have a good life, that you can earn a decent wage,” Massiah said, noting that the government had been making “empty gestures” on labor issues.
“We don’t want five days anymore. We want 10,” he said about a call for extended paternity leave provisions.
Messiah is also calling for creating a severance protection fund, amending the Labour Code, establishing a national health and safety policy, and forming a tripartite committee involving government, employers, and unions to jointly assess the country’s economic challenges.
“We need a government ready to do right by the people,” he said, urging marchers to continue demanding justice beyond the day’s rally.
“Tell them to stop squeezing you… We are seeking a minimum wage to help you do all you can for your children without begging,” he reiterated.
Prime Minister Browne, speaking at the Labour Day rally, said, “We will accelerate the collective bargaining agreement and agree to an increase no later than next year.
“We will also increase the minimum wage once again, the third time in about 10 to 11 years,” Browne said, assuring workers of his government’s dedication to equitable economic benefits. “Without these workers, there will be no ABLP (Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party). You don’t have to march against us… all you have to do is say it, and it will be done,” Browne declared
He said that in the past, an ALBP government has removed income tax as a decision made for workers, saying, “When I give you a commitment, you can take it to the bank.”
Meanwhile, the ABWU calls on employers to honor their legal obligations to workers by paying them for public holidays, including Labour Day, even when they are not scheduled to work.
“When you’re given the day off on a public holiday, the state has already given you that day as a rest. That is why the labor code says working on a public holiday is not compulsory. But indeed, it also says that if you do, you get two and a half times the pay,” said ABWU’s executive member, Chester Hughes.
He told the rally that too many businesses were exploiting a legal loophole to deny workers compensation when they are given the day off.
Hughes singled out sectors such as construction, hospitality, and retail, where he said workers were routinely told they would not be paid if they did not show up on holidays.
“In the hotels and the stores uptown, they give you the day off, but then they say they’re not paying you because it’s a public holiday. That’s unacceptable. You should enjoy the public holiday as every worker in this country.”
He said the Industrial Court had already ruled that if workers are given a day off for a holiday, they cannot be made to forfeit a day’s pay. He insisted employers must either pay for the holiday or provide a substitute day off with pay.
“This is the law. The people must rebel. The people must fight. We are saying today to every employer out there—pay the people for today,” Hughes said, warning that the union would not remain silent if the trend continues.
Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle has urged workers across Antigua and Barbuda to “rise and demand better,” citing economic struggles and deteriorating public services.
“When workers can’t save, can’t buy land, and pensioners must choose between food and medicine—then it is time to rise,” he told the crowd, also calling for an increase in the minimum wage.
“We must secure better and more opportunities,” Pringle said.
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