The general public got a taste of what that would be like yesterday when hundreds of workers were off the job for several hours, from 8 am, to attend a meeting called by their bargaining agent, the Antigua & Barbuda Workers Union (A&BWU).
The action seriously affected customers as five of the eight financial institutions were forced to close, while each of the other three operated with a skeleton staff.
The union’s General Secretary David Massiah said the workers were asked to return to A&BWU’s headquarters on Newgate Street this morning, at 8 am, for a second strategy meeting.
One of the union’s legal advisors will also be present at the meeting.
Yesterday, employees attended the early morning meeting called by their bargaining agent to update them on the outcome of talks held on Friday with Attorney General Steadroy “Cutie” Benjamin on the matter.
Workers in the banking sector along with their union are agitating for a change in how their severance is addressed in the proposed legislation which was debated and passed in the Upper House yesterday.
Massiah said during the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, the workers flatly rejected Benjamin’s suggestion that the Bill be allowed to pass and he (Benjamin) will return to Parliament to make the amendments within a six-week period.
“We are concerned because the very Bill says that for any amendments to be made once the Bill is passed it would require approval by the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU),” Massiah said.
Massiah said the workers are still not satisfied and will continue to agitate.
“The workers are still of the view they would like the matter of severance addressed in having it properly outlined rather than joining it with other parts of a sentence which could have a different meaning,” the general secretary said.
Although the closure lasted for only a few hours it had a ripple effect of on business and commerce in the country, as many people were unable to conduct their usual transactions.
It was shortly after mid-day when the doors of several financial institutions namely; Royal Bank of Canada, Antigua Commercial Bank, Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank, CIBC First Caribbean International, Bank of Nova Scotia Woods Mall branch and the Antigua & Barbuda Development Bank opened for business.