Antigua Government chides union for encouraging bank workers strike

The Government of Antigua & Barbuda has accused one of the country’s largest trade unions of trying to deliberately mislead bank employees into taking industrial action over the recently passed Banking Act.

The Antigua & Barbuda Workers’ Union has reportedly encouraged staff of eight commercial banks to strike.

In a statement, the government said the planned protest action was based on deliberate misreading of the definition of the term officer in the legislation.

The Gaston Browne-led administration said the attempt to mislead bank workers into thinking that they are at risk of being unfairly targeted is a deliberate political ploy and the employees were being used as pawns.

It said workers should reject the call for industrial action.