Employers and employees must share the blame for poor work conditions, union president says

Samuel James, president of the Antigua and Barbuda Free Trade
Union, says the public service features some of the worst – if not the
worst – work conditions in this country.
 
James’ observation is a commentary on the many protest actions
that government workers took in 2023 – and continued into the new
year – over poor work conditions.
 
The most recent action was taken by Ministry of Agriculture staff,
who are to be transferred from the current headquarters on
Independence Drive.
 
Similar conditions have also impacted the public hospital, several
police stations, the community clinics, and the General Post Office,
among others.   

Several agencies are now operating for half of the day, including
those at the Passport Office and the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral
Commission, which occupy the same building on Queen Elizabeth
Highway.

James, who worked in the public sector between 1989 and 2007,
says that since his tenure, the work conditions have not improved.
Rather, they appear to have gotten worse.

Such conditions – which are also experienced by some private-
sector employees – are their fault, as well as their employers, he
says.

However, he concedes that these recent industrial actions could be
viewed as the workers rejecting the conditions and crying out for
better.

According to the union president, the law is clear about health and
safety in the workplace, and employers are responsible for
providing a safe and clean work environment.

While the employer has his or her obligations to the staff, James says
the employees must share the responsibility for maintaining a clean
workplace.
 
Additionally, he says that, by law, workers have the right to reject
the conditions to which they are being subjected.
 
Therefore, by continuing to show up to work under deplorable
working conditions – such as mold and vermin-infested buildings –

they become a part of the problem, since they seem to be accepting
their circumstances.
And yet, James says, the workers are also the solution – by their
rejection of less than humane working environments.

The Labour Department is responsible for policing the Antigua and
Barbuda Labour Code, which speaks to the issue of occupational
health and safety. But, James notes, this agency, itself, has always
suffered from horrible work conditions.
 
Therefore, he speculates that the Department – where he worked for
18 years – might lack the motivation to assist others, since its
employees are enduring the same things

That was Samuel James, president of the Antigua and Barbuda
Free Trade Union.