Trade Unionists Strengthen Capacity to Support LGBTQ+ Workers
Trade unionists from across Antigua and Barbuda are now better equipped to represent workers of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions following a recent workshop focused on building understanding and competence around LGBTQ+ issues in the world of work.
The awareness and capacity-building workshop, held on 28 and 29 January 2026, was hosted by Public Services International (PSI) with support from the Rainbow Network of the Dutch Trade Union Confederation, FNV.
Sandra Massiah
PSI Sub-Regional Secretary for the Caribbean, Sandra Massiah, explained that the workshop forms part of a broader 18-month project aimed at advancing the equal rights of LGBTQ+ people across the Caribbean sub-region. She noted that the initiative adopts a more targeted approach than previous advocacy efforts.
“What we’re doing in the Caribbean in this 18-month project is that we’re focusing on ourselves… In other words, what happens in unions,” Massiah explained. “What we’re doing is to educate our shop stewards and union representatives about what it means when we’re talking about LGBTQ+.”
Massiah added that the workshops address specific challenges faced by LGBTQ+ workers, and how unions can collaborate with organisations to advocate for, and support the community.
Through group activities and guided discussions, participants explored a range of topics including understanding LGBTQ+ terminology; vulnerable groups and the role of trade unions; ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206 on eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work; and discrimination, stigmatisation, and intersectionality.
Reflecting on the workshop, one participant shared: “For me, it basically highlights human rights. Everybody has rights, not just heterosexual people, but LGBTQ people as well, and we need to respect their views also.”
Another attendee described the sessions as eye-opening. “This workshop has helped to raise my awareness on this issue, and hopefully we can take what we’ve learned back and incorporate it into our unions.”
Participating unions included the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union, the Antigua and Barbuda Public Service Association, the Antigua and Barbuda Nurses Association, and the Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers.
The workshop also featured valuable contributions from Lina Bogle-Mienzer, Labour Relations Practitioner and LGBTQ+ Advocate in Bermuda, as well as MESH Antigua and Barbuda, an LGBTQ+ advocacy and support organisation.
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