Goals
Time period
Country
Methods in 1st segment
Methods in 3rd segment
Methods in 4th segment
Methods in 5th segment
Methods in 6th segment
Additional methods (Timing Unknown)
Segment Length
Leaders
Partners
External allies
Involvement of social elites
Opponents
Nonviolent responses of opponent
Campaigner violence
Repressive Violence
Cluster
Classification
Group characterization
Groups in 1st Segment
Segment Length
Success in achieving specific demands/goals
Survival
Growth
Total points
Database Narrative
Between July 2007 and June 2010, workers of LIAT Airlines, which is based in Antigua and Barbuda, protested against their employers for better wages and holiday pay. The campaign was a back and forth struggle between LIAT Airlines and multiple Caribbean governments on one side, and the flight attendants and pilots of LIAT Airlines on the other. The employees relied mainly on strikes and sick-ins throughout the campaign whenever the authorities did not meet their demands.
By July of 2007, LIAT pilots had already been negotiating for a ten-year contract for the past three years. On the 28th and 29th, 20 airline pilots participated in a go-slow strike that severely hampered LIAT’s ability to operate. They threatened further action the following weekend, but refrained from any more strikes after a mediation involving the Antiguan President.
On October 18, 2008, LIAT pilots held another strike that lasted a day. On December 7, LIAT flight attendants called in sick en masse, crippling the airline. As the holiday period approached, the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) lobbied the government for increased holiday pay, which currently existed for most Antiguan workers, but not airline pilots. On the 22nd, air traffic controllers performed a disguised slowdown strike that caused congestion at the V.C. Bird International Airport in St. John’s. LIALPA threatened further action, but mediation beginning on Christmas Eve, involving the Antiguan Attorney General, instituted a 28-day “cool off” period and diffused the situation until after the New Year. On January 6, 2009, however, air traffic controllers held another go-slow strike. Two months later, unrest among employees caused LIAT to cancel its flights to Guadeloupe.
In early April, a rumor emerged that LIAT was planning to give its executives big bonus. This sent LIALPA into an uproar. LIALPA Chairman Michael Blackburn condemned the bonuses, and demanded that they not be given out.
In mid-April, both sides agreed to a binding arbitration to settle their pay dispute. LIALPA wanted a thirty percent pay increase, while LIAT only offered two. LIALPA agreed not to strike following the beginning of arbitration.
On May 22, flight crews performed another sick-in, severely slowing down airline traffic all over the Caribbean. The next day the Antigua and Barbuda Industrial Court launched an injunction against LIAT employees preventing them from striking or performing go-slows.
On July 21, LAIT pilots voluntarily attended a meeting with Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to sort out the dispute between LIALPA and the LIAT executives, but Blackburn stood firm in that LIALPA would not meet with LIAT management until the injunction was lifted, which happened after a meeting involving LIALPA, Prime Minister David Thompson of Barbados, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, and Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.
Following the lifting of the injunction, LIALPA did not perform any direct actions for almost an entire year, but continued to be frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations. Beginning on June 16, 2010, following a week of accusations from both sides, all LIAT pilots reported sick after LIAT management failed to retract a statement before a deadline set by LIALPA. The strike grounded all of LIAT’s flights for the next two days. LIAT claimed that it had reached an agreement with LIALPA regarding wages earlier, but LIAT denied this claim, proclaiming the strike’s legitimacy. The strike ended two days later.
The campaign succeeded in attaining some of its goals, but not all of them. LIAT management gave workers a small pay raise, but striking workers in Grenada were all fired and replaced by foreign workers.
Sources
"Airline Seeks to Talk to Pilots as Passengers Experience Frustration." Antigua Observer [St. John's]. 16 July 2010. Web. <http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=34633>.
"Antigua Airline Boss Urges Pilots Not to Take Industrial Action." Caribbean Media Corporation 09 Dec. 2009. Lexis Nexis. Web.
"Antigua Attorney General Intervenes in Airline Dispute." Caribbean Media Corporation 23 Dec. 2008. Lexis Nexis. Web.
"Antigua Intervenes in Dispute between Regional Airline and Pilots." Caribbean Media Corporation, 02 Aug 2007. Lexis Nexis. Web.
"Caribbean Airline Industrial Dispute Goes to Arbitration." Caribbean Media Corporation, 09 Apr 2009. Lexis Nexis. Web.
"Caribbean Airline Pilots, Management Agree to 28-day "cool Off" Period." Caribbean Media Corporation 24 Dec. 2008. Lexis Nexis. Web.
"Caribbean Airline Pilots Welcome Talks with Premiers." Caribbean Media Corporation 21 July 2009. Lexis Nexis. Web.
Davidson, Wendella. "LIAT Strike Enters Second Day." Guyana Chronicle Online. Guyana Chronicle, 18 June 2010. Web. <http://www.guyanachronicleonline.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14839:liat-strike-enters-second-day&catid=4:top-story&Itemid=8>.
"Liat Airlines, Caribbean." Easy Travel Report. 18 June 2010. Web. <http://www.easytravelreport.com/AIRLINE-HISTORY/HISTORY-LIAT.html>.
"LIAT Flights Cancelled as Pilots Call in Sick Read More: Http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/28230.html#ixzz1HrsANBvl." Caribbean 360. 16 June 2010. Web. <http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/28230.html#axzz1HqZkiSDz>.
Liburd, Andy. "LIAT Pilots Threaten Action." Caribarena Antigua. Antigua Business News, 14 June 2010. Web. <http://www.caribarena.com/antigua/antigua-business/business-news/liat-pilots-threaten-action-201006149521.html>.
Michels, Jennifer. "LIAT Pilots Barred By Court From Further Industrial Actions." Aviation Daily 28 May 2009. Lexis Nexis. Web.
Shannon, Darren. "LIAT, Pilots Accept Binding Arbitration To Resolve Dispute." Aviation Daily 29 July 2009. Lexis Nexis. Web.
"Slow Clearance of Antigua Flights Sparks Delays, Cancellations." Caribbean Media Corporation 22 Dec. 2008. Lexis Nexis. Web.
Staff, Stabroek. "LIAT Resumes Flights after Pilot Strike." Stabroek News. 19 June 2010. Web. <http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/news/stories/06/19/liat-resumes-flights-after-pilot-strike/>.
"Update- Liat Strike - Gonsalves Demands That Pilots Return to the Skies." Go-Jamaica. 17 June 2010. Web. <http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=20315>.