Ahead of key by-election, PM Gaston Browne cross swords with union leader David Massiah over minimum wage increase

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne on Thursday, January 9, 2025, gave Opposition member and Senator David Massiah a strong reply over his criticism of the government’s minimum wage increase decision as an ‘election gimmick’ a day before.  

Asking Massiah how it was an election gimmick, the Labour prime minister the former intentionally tried to mislead workers while knowing fully that there is a minimum wage committee that undertakes consultation to determine the quantity of hike. 

“It is obvious that you and the union that you lead, have become irrelevant in promoting and satisfying the empowerment of workers,” Browne said, targeting Massiah who is the general secretary of Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union. 

Controversy ahead of high-stake by-election

Massiah’s criticism came while campaigning for his United Progressive Party’s (UPP) candidate George Wehner who is contesting the January 14 by-election in St. Peter, the parliamentary constituency that fell vacant following the assassination of its occupant, Independent MP Asot Michael, last November. 

There, he took on the prime minister over his recent announcement about raising the national minimum wage saying it was an “election gimmick” aimed at appeasing the working class without any meaningful consultation. He also urged the workers to reject the Labour government’s alleged neglect and disrespect for the labour force. Massiah also called the upcoming election as “watershed moment” for the dual-island nation’s working class. 

Both the major parties are looking to clinch the seat to increase their presence in the House of Representatives after it was held by Michael for a long time and as an Independent since 2023. The Labour Party has fielded former senator Rawdon Turner, who lost to Michael in 2023. PM Browne endorsed Turner’s candidacy and called him a “homegrown talent” and urged the voters to support him. 

In his rebuttal directed at the opposition senator and union leader, Browne said everybody knew Massiah was singing for his supper to retain his appointed position in the Senate so that he could earn a full pension. Both the PM and his party shared his response on the official Facebook pages. 

“Your assertion that workers do not have the right of association is a figment of your warped imagination,” the PM said, asking, “How does an increase in the minimum wage become an election gimmick?”

PM tears into union over hotel sector’s wage plight

The prime minister also raked up in his speech his displeasure over the alleged disparity in wages in the hotel industry, something over which he has criticized the union in the past. 

In strong words, Browne said it was because of compromised representation of certain senior members of the union who regularly received gifts of free meals and cash from hoteliers that the hotel workers remained deprived of an effective representation. 

Saying real wages in the hospitality sector did not rise correspondingly for decades despite it contributing 55 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and that the ABWU did not carry out its duty to represent 95 per cent of hospitality workers, Browne explained why the union was against the rise in the minimum wage.

According to him, a rise will mean the ABWU will be forced to negotiate better wages for hospitality workers. Browne also said that the union allowed hoteliers during the COVID-19 pandemic to remove higher-paid employees and replace them with lower-paid ones. 

“At one point, the minimum wage in the hotel sector was reduced to $9.00 per hour, mere cents above the minimum wage. One hotel, even recruited a former UPP Minister to shaft workers. Not a word was heard from the ABWU. It took myself, and broader civil society, to include Mr Anderson Carty to bring the madness to an end,” Browne added. He said the grim picture in the hospitality sector discouraged the local people to join it, resulting in the rise of immigrant workers. 

“All this happened under the uncaring and hopeless representation of the ABWU,” he said. 

Browne said the workers were insulted more by a recent agreement by ABWU on their behalf that accepted a weekly increase of $5 which cannot even buy a bottle of beer. 

The Labour prime minister also said that he is prepared to follow international trade unionist Sir Walter Citrine’s footsteps to help the hospitality workers organize themselves and form their own trade union. 

“Hospitality workers contribute over $2M annually to ABWU in the form of dues. These fees could be better invested in their own union for their own empowerment. The ABWU have also wasted these dues subsiding their loss-making cafe up to $500,000 in a single calendar year,” Browne said in his hard-hitting response. 

Massiah also targeted Browne government over LIAT 1974 compensation

The Browne-led government’s tussle with the union is not new. The latter has in recent times accused the former of not caring for the former employees of the now-defunct LIAT (1974) airline. Massiah touched upon the matter during his campaign speech as well saying public servants were denied their freedom of association and the right to negotiate. He said the government offered inadequate compensation through bonds instead of cash settlements. 

Claiming the government turned workers into doormats, the UPP leader asked the people of St. Peter to vote for Wehner, who he called a champion for workers’ rights. 

PM Browne’s wage increase announcement

Earlier this week, PM Browne unveiled his government’s plans for another raise in the country’s minimum wage figures. It would be the third under the Labour leader’s decade-long governance. “Very shortly, we’ll be increasing the minimum wage again,” Browne, also the finance minister, was cited as saying in a report. 

He emphasised that the rise in wages is part of a broader ploy to make the country’s economic progress all-inclusive. 

The last time Antigua and Barbuda saw an increase in the minimum wage was on January 1, 2023, when it was raised from EC$8.20 to EC$9 per hour.