People’s Union representative Ralph Potter has accused employers and government institutions of using Antigua and Barbuda’s essential services law to prevent workers from taking effective industrial action rather than resolving workplace disputes through negotiation.

Speaking during the opening of the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union’s 59th Annual Delegates Conference, Potter said the provision requiring essential-service workers to give 14 days’ notice before taking industrial action was being used as a weapon against employees.

He said the notice period was intended to give employers and unions an opportunity to meet, negotiate and resolve disputes before workers withdrew their labour. Instead, he alleged, some employers use the period to refer matters quickly to the Industrial Court.

“The 14 days’ notice, when it is given, the expectation was that notice is given and that will create a situation where employers who previously don’t want to meet, don’t want to drag things out, will come to the table,” Potter said.

However, he said employers were moving “not to meet with unions to resolve issues, but to use that 14-day period to get the matter very quickly into the Industrial Court.”

Once a dispute is before the court, workers are effectively prevented from taking action while awaiting a decision, Potter said. He warned that the People’s Union would no longer accept the practice and was prepared to challenge it.

“We are not going to allow that to be used as a weapon to really harm and destroy working people,” Potter said.

He called on other trade unions to prepare for a wider fight to protect workers’ rights, arguing that employees rarely secure improved conditions without sustained advocacy and collective action.

Potter also criticised prolonged delays in collective bargaining and the payment of retroactive wages. He said such delays weaken Antigua and Barbuda’s industrial relations system and leave workers without updated agreements for extended periods.

He further called for the long-running review of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code to be completed, noting that the legislation was introduced in 1975 and must be modernised to reflect current workplace realities.

Potter said the industrial relations system was designed to support free collective bargaining conducted in good faith. Negotiations may not give either side everything it wants, he said, but they should produce agreements that employers and workers can accept.

He stressed that defending workers’ rights did not mean unions were opposed to employers or business growth. Successful businesses benefit workers by protecting employment and creating opportunities, he said.

However, Potter warned that unions must be prepared to take firm action to preserve benefits secured by previous generations and improve employment conditions.

“You get what you fight for,” he said.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: People’s Union Threatens Action Over Use of Essential Services Law.