St. John’s, Antigua: In response to the Government’s failure to pay transitional allowances in a timely manner, the air traffic controllers at VC Bird International Airport staged a brief sickout on Friday, according to a report in the Antigua Observer.
It was verified that the morning shift of traffic controllers called in sick. However, according to Airport Authority Operations Director, Edward Gilkes, the afternoon shift reported as scheduled and no flights were affected.
The Observer said that the quick resolution may have been in response to Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister, John Maginley, comments on the Voice of the People programme at midday. He assured the controllers that the cheque for the transitional allowances was conveyed to the Airport Authority and had already been cashed, and that they should expect payment shortly.
The transitional allowances were promised to the air traffic controllers when they transitioned from Government employ to being employees of the Airport Authority. However, according to Minister Maginley, the process of the transition has not yet been completed and in spite of that the Government made the commitment to pay the allowances.
“We have to be aware of the situation Antigua & Barbuda is in today. The Government is having a real challenge in meeting its obligations … now if you are going to be shutting the country down — and I want people to understand that if you close the airport you effectively shut down Antigua because you send home all the planes—does that make it easier for the Government to pay? Does it mean you are going to get paid any quicker? It doesn’t,” the Minister pointed out.
“So while everybody has that right, I want people to take a step back and say ‘is the action I’m taking going to have the same effect of making people pay me quicker?’ If the money isn’t there, it isn’t there,” he added, the Observer said.
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