The President of Antigua and Barbuda Worker’s Union (ABWU) has criticized Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s recent push to establish a new union to represent hospitality workers, highlighting what he describes as potentially problematic institutional arrangements and an attempt to “union bust.”
In an interview with Observer media, ABWU’s President Kem Riley argued that the Prime Minister’s proposal for a new hospitality union—backed by government resources and soft loans—raises questions about political independence and worker representation.
“The Prime Minister has gone down a very bad road of attacking the union,” Riley stated, defending ABWU’s track record of securing benefits like medical coverage for hotel workers.
The union controversy emerged as the Prime Minister has floated the idea of providing government support, including seed money and facilities, to establish a new hospitality workers’ union—provided it remains independent of what the Prime Minister deems “political influence”.
Last week, Browne ramped up his efforts against the ABWU after holding a meeting with individuals, whom the Prime Minister’s Office described as union officials, to help set up the new institution.
His plan, if successful, would siphon off membership from the ABWU—a union that the Prime Minister clashed with over a number of issues and claimed it was not doing enough for hotel workers.
However, Riley pushed back on this, defending the ABWU’s recent negotiation of a $25 weekly increase for hotel workers, explaining it represented a 5 percent raise comparable to public sector increases.
Riley also defended the protracted nature of the ABWU collective bargaining process, noting that “negotiation is what it is, finding [a solution to] both parties … you can’t say you want $50, expect the company to give $50 because the company has to right now look at their financial status and see how best they can deal with regarding to work.”
The ABWU President also questioned the feasibility of the proposed union’s potential leadership structure, particularly noting concerns about the new union gaining recognition as the collective bargaining agents from hotels.
“When I look at the picture of people present at the consultation, some of them don’t work at the hotels,” Riley observed. “They can’t be a part of a hospitality union if they don’t work in hospitality.”
He later noted that two people who attended the meeting were from Jolly Beach and Sandals.
The ABWU president also commented that unlike the teachers’ union, where presidents can be seconded to union duties while maintaining their positions, the proposed arrangement for hotel workers’ representation could lack a similar established framework, especially as the new union would need to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the various hotels on island.
Explaining the process for union recognition from the ABWU’s perspective, Riley explained that “the employees must sign a petition of 30 percent of the staff body then we [the union] would submit this petition to the Labour Department and Labour Department convenes a meeting with the company and the Union to discuss whether or not the petition is correct.”
He noted that modern certification requirements have become more stringent, requiring “50 + 1 of the total employees” for successful certification.
In recent months, the Prime Minister has expressed his ire over the hotel industry following pointed criticism of the Sandals Resort group over alleged unpaid taxes to the Inland Revenue Department.
The ABWU currently represents a majority of unionized hotel workers in Antigua and Barbuda, with Riley noting recent expansion to include two additional properties under their representation.
While the Prime Minister argues that a dedicated hospitality workers’ union could better address sector-specific challenges, Riley maintains that the ABWU has political independence, pointing out their executive includes workers from various political backgrounds.
“We’re not run by UPP more than ABLP—people from our executive are workers from all the sectors that we represent,” Riley emphasized.
Any proposed hospitality union could face initial skepticism over its own independence, considering that PM Browne has offered government resources like offices and funds to the union.
The Prime Minister and the Attorney General are set to meet this week to discuss the legal implications of the proposed union.
