FRIDAY JULY
03, 2020
VOLUME 114, No.27
LIAT Stories Page 3,7 and 13
Gone are the days when the Prime Ministers Gaston Browne (top right hand corner) and Dr. Ralph Gonsalves held one head on how critical it was to ‘keep LIAT in the sky’.
REGIONAL AIRLINE LIAT, dubbed the Caribbean Airline, is heading into liquidation. This is the consensus of a weekend discussion involving the airline’s four major shareholder governments — Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) — Directors and at least one of the airline’s creditors, the Caribbean Development Bank.
www.thevincentian.com
Re-building the Auxilliary Page 5
The recommendation for dissolution of the company (LIAT) will be advanced for approval to a general meeting of all the ordinary shareholders of the company. All of this was disclosed by Chairman of the Shareholder Governments Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of SVG, who reported the decision to his people via WE FM radio on Sunday, and communicated same by way of a circular letter dated Monday 29th June, to all employees of the airline.
Severance to be addressed
Geothermal Update Page 17
EC$1.50
Party with a twist Page 15
In his letter to the employees, PM Gonsalves sought to assure employees that their severance and outstanding salaries “will be urgently addressed.” As it stands, the Antiguabased financially strapped airline owes its staff an estimated EC$94 million in severance and holiday payment, which, Dr. Gonslaves admits, it is unable to pay since it is “insolvent” and “doesn’t have any assets to pay anybody anything.” Meanwhile, the Chairman of the two Unions representing LIAT workers have indicated that it is going to be difficult convincing LIAT’s ground staff and pilots to accept reduced severance, reduced wages and other benefits.
Man damages clamp Page 18
This is the shared view of David Massiah, Chairman of the Regional Consortium of Unions representing LIAT workers, and Capt. Patterson Thompson, Chairman of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA). This indication came from the two organizations after a statement by Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua on Saturday, in which he said, inter alia, that should LIAT go into liquidation, it would be hard-pressed to honour severance and other entitlements to its workers. LIAT is said to have a work force of some 600 persons with 400 of those being nationals of Antigua, according to the Antigua Observer of June 30, 2020.
Browne in a rage And while Dr. Gonsalves last Sunday went to pains to assure LIAT staff in SVG that they Continued on Page 5.