CARIBARENA Antigua & Barbuda

This week, the government will be hearing from the Antigua Trades and Labour Union, the bargaining agent for the State Insurance Corporation, targeted as the country’s first state entity to undergo divestment.

Key officials in the union met Monday afternoon to discuss the matter after getting word from employees that they will not co-operate in the process.

General Secretary of the AT&LU Alrick Daniel told Caribarena.com yesterday that the union was guided by its membership on the matter, and repeated that the employees held the strong view that the union should not be a part of an advisory committee that would inform the government’s way forward on the matter.

Daniel explained that the meeting will continue on March 9, and consideration is being given to issuing a statement to the media.

He added that before the week ends, the government will be hearing from the union not only how it feels, but its membership's views on the matter.

The government recently announced that it had signed a financial advisory mandate with the International Finance Corporation for the divestment of the entity.

In a statement, the government said a review undertaken by the Divestment Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office found that State’s ability to expand outside Antigua & Barbuda was limited by its status as a statutory corporation.

“It concluded that the corporation will benefit from the injection of capital and expertise of a reputable insurance investor in order to improve its operations and service offerings,” the government statement said of the review.

A call to Implementation Officer Ambassador Joan Underwood has so far gone unreturned, as Caribarena.com sought her reaction to the plans afoot by the AT&LU and employees to resist the divestment plans.

See related stories:

Sic Employees Gearing up for Fight

 

 

< Prev		Next >