As the officially recognized collective bargaining body for CIBC Caribbean workers based in Antigua and Barbuda, the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) has formally responded to the recently announced acquisition proposal from Bermuda-based lender The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited. The global financial firm has tabled a plan to purchase CIBC’s controlling 91.7% stake in CIBC Caribbean Bank Limited, a deal that remains contingent on gaining necessary regulatory clearances from regional authorities, with both acquiring and target firms indicating they anticipate no major disruptions to daily operations once the transaction closes under new ownership.
While the union has acknowledged the preliminary statements from both financial institutions regarding operational continuity, the ABWU has moved quickly to lay out non-negotiable requirements for how the ownership transfer must proceed to protect local workers. In a formal correspondence addressed to CIBC leadership, ABWU General Secretary David Massiah has underscored that all corporate acquisition activity impacting Antigua and Barbuda-based employees must align strictly with the nation’s existing labor laws, which outline clear protections for employment contracts, collective bargaining rights, continuous service tenure, severance pay entitlements, and mandatory consultation requirements between employers and worker representatives.
Massiah’s letter explicitly references two key pieces of national legislation that govern this type of corporate ownership change: the 2019 Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code (Amendment) Act No. 9, and the accompanying 2015 amendment to Section 176(g) of the nation’s Banking Act. These regulatory changes explicitly clarify that workers cannot be forcefully transferred to a new employer without first exercising their legally guaranteed right to make an active election about their future employment status.
Under the updated labor framework spelled out in Sections C40 and C44 of the amended Labour Code, workers are now eligible to receive severance pay not only in cases of traditional redundancy, but also during scenarios involving the sale of business assets, transfer of company shares, handover of business operations, or any other disposal of a business to a successor employer. Massiah outlined the two clear options that every affected worker is legally entitled to choose from.
The first option allows employees to accept a severance payout from the current, pre-acquisition employer, which would formally end their employment relationship with the existing entity. Any continued work for the new Butterfield-led ownership would then require a brand new employment offer negotiated under current labor standards. The second alternative permits workers to decline the offered severance and retain their employment with the successor institution. In this scenario, all existing employment benefits, accrued rights, job privileges, tenure, and continuous service records must be fully preserved and transferred intact to the new employer.
Complementing these labor code provisions, the amendment to the Banking Act adds an additional layer of protection for finance sector workers: any employee that chooses to continue their employment with the acquiring bank must retain employment terms and conditions that are at least as favorable as those in place immediately before the ownership transfer is completed.
A core demand put forward by Massiah is that every impacted worker must receive a clear, genuine, and reasonable window of opportunity to make their informed election between the two options: accepting severance and ending their current employment, or retaining their role with the new owner without taking a severance payout. The General Secretary has pushed for CIBC to fully adhere to the existing statutory framework, and most critically, to formally notify every affected worker in writing of all their legal rights and available options under both the Labour Code and Banking Act.
Massiah reiterated that the ABWU expects full transparency, good-faith consultation with union leadership, and timely ongoing communication at every stage of the proposed acquisition. This includes all matters that impact the union’s collective bargaining units as well as both statutory and collective bargaining rights held by workers. He emphasized that the worker protections codified in these laws were intentionally passed by the Antigua and Barbuda Parliament specifically to prevent workers from losing their hard-earned accrued rights and benefits when a business or financial institution is sold or transferred to new ownership.
“In closing, the Union therefore expects full compliance with both the spirit and letter of the legislation throughout this entire transaction process,” Massiah wrote in the formal letter. Moving forward, the ABWU has confirmed it will maintain close ongoing monitoring of all developments related to the proposed acquisition to ensure that the rights, interests, and professional dignity of every affected worker are fully protected through the completion of the deal.