{"id":111391,"date":"2020-06-01T07:26:44","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T11:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=111391"},"modified":"2020-06-01T07:26:44","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T11:26:44","slug":"pm-says-unions-requested-severance-law-suspension-union-says-not-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-unions-requested-severance-law-suspension-union-says-not-so\/","title":{"rendered":"PM Says Unions Requested Severance Law Suspension, Union Says Not So"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Prime Minister Gaston Browne says it is local trade unions and not the government that proposed an emergency bill to suspend severance payments during the period of COVID-19.<\/p>

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The bill has already been shelved but Browne says the impression is being given that it was the government’s idea.<\/p>\n

“In fact what had happened, about a week ago, a number of trade unionist including those in the Antigua Workers Union, the UPP affiliated union, to include officers of the ABWU former PM Spencer, and Chester Hughes, politician, approached the Attorney General to ask him if the government would be in a position to suspend any unreasonable request for severance payments during this period of covid,” the prime minister said.<\/p>

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“And they asked the AG for the government to got to parliament to empower the government with the right so that in the event a large number of people demanding severance from an institution, which could literally destroy or force the institution into bankruptcy, that the government could have the opportunity to suspend that particular provision in the Labour Code so as to protect business and jobs. A totally responsible position which incidentally it was the union who as the honourable AG to put that provision in place,” Browne told PointeFM.<\/p>

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Attorney General Steadroy Cutie Benjamin confirmed that was the case but said the unions did not want to put their request in writing.<\/p>\n

The Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU) has refuted these suggestions, In a press release on Friday, the ABWU noted the assertions of some individuals, that the union expressed an interest in making amendments to, or suspending provisions of the country\u2019s labour code, specifically with regards to the application of severance payments.<\/p>

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The union made it clear that this information was not factual, and neither were claims that they had agreed to any new legislation that would seek to undermine the rights of their membership or to create financial hardship to them.<\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Gaston Browne says it is local trade unions and not the government that proposed an emergency bill to suspend severance payments during the period of COVID-19. The bill has already been shelved but Browne says the impression is being given that it was the government’s idea. “In fact what had happened, about a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPM Says Unions Requested Severance Law Suspension, Union Says Not So - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-unions-requested-severance-law-suspension-union-says-not-so\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PM Says Unions Requested Severance Law Suspension, Union Says Not So\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prime Minister Gaston Browne says it is local trade unions and not the government that proposed an emergency bill to suspend severance payments during the period of COVID-19. 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