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  • 9 months ago
It's not the welcome home sign you would expect to see on leaving the Piarco International Airport, but Caribbean Airlines Pilots have literally gone to great heights to make a statement about an unwelcomed situation with their employer.

Rynessa Cutting has more.
Transcript
00:00It's a creative way of demanding their back pay and it's on full display for all to see
00:06entering or exiting the Piaco International Airport.
00:09It's a creative way to express the displeasure. The pilots are frustrated. As you know, the
00:15pilots are classified as essential workers and they cannot take certain type of actions
00:22that ordinary workers may be able to take. They cannot withhold their labour, etc.
00:27The bold move comes as pilots are still awaiting the balance of their back pay for the period
00:322015 to 2020, despite negotiations being settled in October of 2024.
00:39They have given the majority of the pilots partial payment and cannot say when they are
00:47going to give them payment. So we are wondering, is it an issue that the Ministry of Finance
00:54has not released the funding? What is the issue? They have not given the pilot body
01:01or the union or the representatives or the workers a proper explanation to this.
01:07Meantime, negotiations for 2020 to 2023 have stalled, despite the association having agreed
01:14to the 4% increase put forward by government.
01:17The company since then has sacked down on that proposal and done nothing. We broke down
01:23the negotiations, meaning that the company was not doing anything and there is a provision
01:28under the Industrial Relations Act to break down the negotiation and refer it to the Minister
01:33of Labour for his intervention, which has been done. But to date, we have not been given
01:39with dates of consideration. And we are saying, under the circumstances, because it's an essential
01:45industry, the minister is supposed to be dealing promptly and urgently with the system.
01:50The association is questioning where Carl has sourced funds to throw its Welcome Home
01:54to Culture in the Park event, which will feature a number of top soca artistes at Mandela Park
02:00this Saturday, free of charge to the public. Contacted for comment, Carl said negotiations
02:07between Caribbean Airlines and the union are ongoing and the company continues to operate
02:13in good faith. Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
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