KINGSTOWN, St Vincent — Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves this afternoon demanded that LIAT pilots end their sickout and return to the skies after their action left hundreds of passengers stranded across the Eastern Caribbean for the past two days.
Addressing reporters gathered at the Cabinet Office here, Gonsalves spoke out strongly against what he called the “irresponsible and unreasonable action” of the pilots who he accused of holding the region to ransom and expressed “profound disappointment” with the situation.
“I am using this forum to urge the pilots to go back in the skies. We can sit and talk and set up a framework to address some of these issues. We can’t undermine this civilisation and this Caribbean Community in this manner,” he said.
The pilots, represented by their union, LIALPA, have been staying off the job to press LIAT’s management to settle a number of outstanding grouses, which they argue have been left to linger for too long.
They have been demanding that LIAT to “pay all monies that are owed due to illegal deductions made from salaries; settle all retroactive public holiday payments; address concerns about the status of current pension deductions and sign-off on a new contract immediately following the arbitration judgment.”
Further, LIALPA has claimed that statements made by the company earlier this week in response to a decision by its members to withdraw their enthusiasm to work were “outright deception and blatant lies”.
But Gonsalves, who heads one of three shareholder governments of the Antigua-based carrier, frowned upon the course of action taken by the pilots.
“You pull a strike, first of all to retract a statement which is not a false statement. Secondly, you pull a strike in relation to two persons where LIAT had the right to make those deductions …
“To say that I am disappointed as to how my brothers and sisters in the pilots’ association have acted would be an understatement,” he told journalists, while holding out hope that the situation would be resolved soon ending the frustrations that passengers have been experiencing over the past two days.
“I am hopeful that we’ll see a return, either an announcement later today or certainly for them to come out tomorrow. I am hopeful but I can’t say to you that I am sure,” the Prime Minister added.
Gonsalves, who was due to travel to St Lucia for a meeting starting Thursday with fellow Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) leaders, said he, along with Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and Montserrat Chief Minister Reuben Meade, took a principled stand against taking a charter flight to attend the talks when citizens of the sub-region and other passengers remained grounded.
He said he knew too well the impact that the work stoppage has been having on people across the region, with the situation hitting close to home.
“I have constituents, poor people, who had to go to Barbados and Trinidad for medical treatment, who have not been able to go either yesterday or today. I have mothers who have to meet their children elsewhere. I have children who have to meet their parents elsewhere. We have a team of Under-19 netballers from Antigua here stranded. You have businesspeople who can’t do their work,” Gonsalves
In the meantime, the Vincentian leader who participated in a meeting of the airline’s Board of Directors via teleconference earlier in the day, warned that there could be legal changes on the cards to prevent the situation from recurring.