ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – HEARINGS in the arbitration between LIAT’s management and Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) are slated to begin today (Dec. 1) at the airline’s headquarters in Antigua.
During today’s hearing, LIAT’s Management and the LIALPA are expected to outline their positions to a three-man Arbitration Panel. More information on the specific matters to be discussed is expected to be made public soon.
Retired Barbadian Jurist and former High Court Judge Leroy Inniss QC will chair the Arbitration Panel, and representatives appointed by both LIALPA and LIAT will sit on the panel.
Ahead of the discussions, threats that pilots would disrupt regional travel through industrial action today began to surface. This media house contacted LIAT Corporate Communications Manager Desmond Brown who allayed such fears, noting that “the airline’s management wishes to assure customers that it has no reason to believe our flights would not be operating as scheduled”.
The Chairman of the LIALPA has also indicated his union’s commitment to allow the arbitration to proceed free of industrial disruption, according to a company press release issued yesterday (Nov. 30).
Late last year, the pilots and LIAT management had been at loggerheads over salaries and bonuses. Since then, there have been numerous threats of industrial action from the pilots to sabotage the operations of the airline if the matter is not favourably resolved.
On July 28, it was agreed that the LIAT management and pilots association would submit all matters in relation to the pilots to binding arbitration. This was decided upon in a meeting in Barbados with the three shareholder prime ministers, LIAT executive staff and representatives of unions and staff associations.
According to St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, “This arbitration takes place within the framework of the law of Antigua and Barbuda [and there would be] a final report by the Arbitration Panel on or before September 30. However, the process has just begun some two months after the arbitration was anticipated to conclude.”
At news time, all morning flights were on schedule.
