May 6, 2021
LIAT’s Barbadian ex-workers on Wednesday described a relief payment from the Mia Mottley Administration as a lifeline, some 400 days after being sent home by the Antigua-based carrier without a cent in severance.
Former pilot Neil Cave, who has been spearheading the group’s struggle for severance and other entitlements, said the assistance offered during a meeting Wednesday with Prime Minister Mottley would help avoid them “going further into the abyss”.
He told
Barbados TODAY: “I just feel relieved because the suffering of the workers was really getting to a dangerous point, to the point of no return for some…and so it could not have come a day sooner; and I am just extremely grateful that the Government has decided to put the suffering to an end for now.
May 5, 2021
STATEMENT FROM THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE ON TODAY’S DISCUSSIONS WITH DISPLACED BARBADIAN LIAT WORKERS
The Government has offered a helping hand to just under 100 displaced Barbadian workers of LIAT, who will get some relief by early next week.
During an hour-and-a-half-long Zoom meeting with dozens of the former employees who have been waiting for well over a year for entitlements from the regional airline, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley promised that each person would receive a one-off gift of $2,000 by Friday or early next week, at the latest.
This gift, which will be provided by central Government, will give authorities time to put other measures in place that would offer further relief over a much longer period.
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Barbadian LIAT workers who last week appealed to Prime Minister Mia Mottley through the office of the Opposition Leader, will be receiving a one-off gift of $2 000 and a plan is being put in place for them to received assistance over the long term.
This was announced via a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office and it followed a 90-minute zoom conversations with dozens of former employees of the regional airline who have been on the breadline for over a year.
Government will provide a “gift” of $2 000 by Friday or early next week and their case will also go before the Tribunal of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS)
May 4, 2021
Tired of waiting in vain for permanent appointments, public officers are to propose to Government that appointments be delivered within a year to prevent officers working for extended periods of time, the National Union of Public Workers said Monday.
This was one of the issues raised and mandates carried at the NUPW’s annual general conference last month, Acting General Secretary Wayne Waldron told
Barbados TODAY.
He declared that public workers have been jaded by layoffs in recent years and are becoming more adamant with their demands for immediate job security.
He also noted increasing concerns about a perceived lack of transparency in relation to the appointment practices within some government departments and state-owned enterprises.
NAB workers get late pay
Article by May 4, 2021
Workers at the National Assistance Board (NAB) on Monday received the second half of their April pay after raising concerns about late payment before starting work.
And there is a fresh commitment from management to ensure the workers receive their bi-monthly salaries on time, National Union of Public Workers officials have revealed.
At the start of the work day, workers ventured to the NAB’s headquarters at Country Road, St Michael for answers, after their expected salary lodgment scheduled for April 30 was still not on their accounts.
One irate worker told reporters: “The workers that use the bank got their money only because some of them went and quarrel and complain. But now the bank has to take that money and send it over to the credit union to be processed so we can get paid. It’s the third of May and we were supposed to be paid on the 30th and the money is still not on.