Temporary staff of the Ministry of Works who protested on Tuesday to highlight their payment issues will start receiving payments from Friday. This was confirmed by Bernard de Nully, President of the Antigua Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU), after a Wednesday meeting with a ministry team led by Minister Maria Browne, Minister of State Sen. Shenella Govia, and Permanent Secretary Sandra Joseph. De Nully noted that AT&LU General Secretary Alrick Daniel was absent due to a family matter, so he represented the union at the meeting where several payment commitments were made. “We agreed that the first payment will be made on Friday. This will be followed next week by a payment schedule for over 300 recently hired ministry workers, including overtime payments for all staff,” he disclosed. He added that new staff are requesting permanent positions, which requires a probationary period and evaluation. De Nully disapproved of Tuesday’s spontaneous protest at the Prime Minister’s Office, preferring union-led actions. Daniel reported multiple issues behind the protests, including non-payment, partial payments, and discrepancies. He said the problems were administrative, and discussions with the ministry were ongoing. Prime Minister Gaston Browne intervened during Tuesday’s picket, promising to arrange payments to start this week.
