LIAT severance dispute may head to court as union readies legal action
The long-running dispute over severance payments owed to former LIAT employees may soon move to the courts, as the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union finalizes a legal strategy against the government of Antigua and Barbuda, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The union maintains that statutory severance remains outstanding since LIAT ceased operations in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving hundreds of workers across the region without jobs or severance pay. As LIAT’s largest shareholder, Antigua and Barbuda became the focal point of workers’ claims.
In response, the government issued what it described as a compassionate payment, providing a 10-year bond valued at EC$16.72 million at a 2 percent interest rate, representing Antigua and Barbuda’s 32 percent ownership share of severance owed to 405 former employees. Workers have since received two payments under the arrangement.
The ABWU has welcomed the payments as interim relief but insists they do not replace severance owed under labor laws and should not be treated as a settlement. The union has advised members that accepting the payments does not extinguish their legal claims.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended the government’s position, arguing that LIAT was a regional entity and that Antigua and Barbuda should not bear a disproportionate share of the airline’s liabilities. He has also warned that paying full severance could set a costly precedent if other shareholder territories fail to meet their obligations.
With negotiations stalled and more than four years having passed since LIAT’s collapse, the union now appears prepared to test the matter in court, shifting a politically sensitive dispute into a legal arena.
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LIAT workers gave decades of service. Two small payments over several years don’t erase the hardship families have faced since the airline collapsed.
But they just gave them some second payment. I myself find massiah taking too long with that
If the government admits the workers deserve help, then why not just settle the severance properly and put this issue to rest?
Compassionate payments are appreciated, but they don’t replace what workers are legally owed. Severance is not a favour it’s an entitlement
Give me a damn break. Is Massiah getting paid to prolong the matter? The government is NOT responsible for severance
My question to Massiah… as a former LIAT employee is ‘why now’ you have years to do this. You have all of 2025 to do this…but you wait until now…as soon as you hear about the second payout.Why wait until now. I would welcome my full severance, along with vacation pay, retroactive pay, and salaries that weren’t paid to us for two months. But right now I will accept the compassionate payment cause it really hard on me. We down on our face.
I don’t understand why this is so hard to understand. When a company goes bust, assets are sold to pay debts. LIAT was a privately, registered company that had no assets.
I feel the pain of the employees but going to Court is a waste of time and money. A Court follows the law. Full stop.