Joan Peters, president of the Antigua and Barbuda Public Service
Association (ABPSA), says the picketing Ministry of Agriculture
workers are planning to go all out until they get what they are
asking for – that is, to be relocated to a better work space.
Peters says the protest action – which began last Friday – is
expected to continue until the worker’s demands are met
That was Joan Peters, president of the Public Service Association.
The workers’ current quarters on Independence Drive are falling to
pieces, with fragments of the ceiling reported to be dropping on the
staff as they work.
The building is said to be cracking and leaning, with a termite
infestation, mold and unsanitary bathroom facilities. Reportedly, the
overall structure is in a dilapidated state and in dire need of urgent
renovation – or to be condemned.
Last Friday, March 15, workers took to the picket line with their
union representatives from the ABPSA joining them.
They said they are tired of the repeated promises to relocate them,
with the last such assurance – given in January this year – that they
would be moved by February 14.
However, since early December last year, the workers had been
informed that they would be moved to the former NTTC building on
Nugent Avenue.
Then, during an earlier interview, Peters had indicated that there
was some contention over the building – which the Ministry of
Health owns and where it had planned to move a few of its own
departments.
