On Monday, dozens of public sector infrastructure employees took to the streets of Antigua and Barbuda’s capital, launching a fresh demonstration to demand resolution of months of delayed salary and remuneration payments. The crowd, made up of current workers from the country’s Public Works Department, started their march at the agency’s main headquarters in St John’s before walking along Queen Elizabeth Highway to deliver their collective grievance directly to the Office of the Prime Minister.
For weeks, the affected employees have been pushing government officials to address a growing financial crisis for their households: they are collectively owed thousands of dollars in unpaid wages that many rely on to cover basic living costs from housing to groceries. This latest demonstration is not the first time the workers have taken public action to draw attention to their plight. Prior protests included the deployment of department-owned heavy machinery and work vehicles to block major city roads, a move designed to force senior government leaders to prioritize the payment issue.
Nearly five weeks ago, the group of workers secured a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Gaston Browne on July 28. During that discussion, multiple participants reported that the Prime Minister gave a formal assurance that all outstanding remuneration would be processed and disbursed to the owed employees within a seven-day window. Now, more than 30 days after that promised deadline expired, the workers say they have yet to receive a single cent of the unpaid money they are owed, prompting them to renew their public protest to hold the government accountable to its earlier commitment.