Workers’ Union calls former Jolly Beach Resort employees to meeting today to discuss promised severance payment

The union representing former Jolly Beach workers will be meeting with them this afternoon, Thursday, June 2, a week after the Cabinet promised – yet again – that outstanding entitlements would be paid.

The Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) will meet the former staff at its Lower Newgate Street headquarters to discuss their severance payments.

On May 25, the Cabinet made a decision that some form of compensation would be paid, but a firm timeframe was not given. 

The workers have been waiting for over two years now, and are owed more than $7 million since the hotel closed in March 2020 as result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it had been experiencing serious financial challenges before that.

Last week, a local hotel developer, along with his architect, held discussions with the Executive on the future of the 464-room hotel.

He is reportedly assisting the Government to secure a loan for the purpose of refurbishing the hotel in phases. During the first phase, guests will return to the resort by late October, Cabinet Notes claimed.