Antigua Observer
From left: Former General Secretary of the Antigua & Barbuda Workers’ Union Ambassador Sir Keithlyn Smith, former employee Cable & Wireless Pauline Roberts and lawyer representing the workers Charlesworth Browne, shortly after yesterday’s ruling at The Privy Council in England. (Photo courtesy David Massiah)
After a near-decade legal battle with former employees who were sent to the breadline, telecommunications giant LIME lost its final appeal at the Privy Council Court yesterday, against the ruling in favour of the former workers.
The decision comes nine years after the company, then Cable & Wireless, made over 20 workers redundant and the affected employees, represented by the Antigua & Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) lodged a complaint in the Industrial Court and the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. The company lost both appeals.
In a last-ditch effort to have the ruling overturned, Cable & Wireless took the matter all the way to England, to the Privy Council, where they lost yet again.
Commenting on the development, General Secretary of the ABWU David Massiah said the ruling represented a significant victory for the labour movement against big capitals and it demonstrates that the union will stop at nothing to defend workers’ rights.
He said this means that the workers can now expect a pay-out from the telecommunications company by Thursday
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