Saturday, May 28, 2011
Yesterday, a day before the deadline given in the May 20 offer, another email was circulated to staff informing that they now have until Friday, June 3 to submit their applications.
This comes after the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU) advised workers on Tuesday not to make any move just yet. General Secretary Senator David Massiah said that even though the ABWU was not opposed to voluntary separation and early retirement packages, it was disappointed the offer was made to workers several days before management was to sit down with the unions to finalise it. He'd also said that even though the workers got the email last Friday, he only received it on Monday.
However, the LIAT email yesterday made no connection between the union's concerns and the company's decision to give workers more time to think about their options.
It simply stated that it had taken into consideration "the many requests"' for an extension of the application deadline.
The date for LIAT to respond to interested employees "' June 15 "' has not been changed.
The Antigua-based regional airline has said that it is undertaking the voluntary separation and early retirement exercise as part of its "strategic efforts to reposition itself as an efficient and successful airline"'.
Another part of its restructuring is the closure of its City Ticketing Offices which is expected to save the airline US$3 million annually.
