As one of the Caribbean nation’s oldest and most influential labor organizations, the Antigua and Barbuda Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU) has closed its 87th Annual Delegates Conference with widespread acclaim, with union president Bernard de Nully confirming the two-day gathering exceeded both leadership and member expectations. Representing more than 10,000 workers across dozens of public and private sector workplaces, the AT&LU designed its annual conference as a core democratic platform for leadership to share a transparent assessment of the organization’s annual achievements and ongoing challenges with a broad cross-section of its rank-and-file membership.
The conference opened on the afternoon of Sunday, September 27, 2026, kicking off a more than three-hour ceremonial opening session filled with a packed schedule of meaningful programming. The event opened with interfaith prayers and vibrant cultural performances, followed by a series of keynote addresses and formal presentations that left attendees energized. Senator Angelica O’Donoghue delivered remarks on behalf of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party, the historic political body closely affiliated with the AT&LU. Next, prominent local public figure Dr. Clarence Pilgrim took the stage to cover a wide range of labor topics, including a call to revive the Workers’ Voice Newspaper — the historical publication that first propelled the AT&LU to national prominence in its early founding years. Following Dr. Pilgrim’s address, the head of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Global Campus Antigua branch presented 39 completion certificates to AT&LU members who had finished short professional development courses through the institution. The campus head also noted that the UWI Global Campus offers full academic credentials ranging from undergraduate degrees all the way to doctoral programs for interested union members. The opening session concluded with statements read aloud from affiliate institutions across the Caribbean and local sister unions, all of which congratulated the AT&LU on 87 years of advancing worker rights and lifting labor standards across the nation. President de Nully delivered closing opening remarks, reaffirming the conference’s central theme that “strong workers create a strong future,” a message that received an enthusiastic response from the assembled delegates.
The second day of the conference, held on September 28, shifted to focused internal business and organizational governance. The agenda opened with a formal roll call of the nearly 80 workplaces where the AT&LU holds active collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with employers. Conference attendees were reminded that these CBAs set standardized wage and salary levels, formalize fair working conditions, and establish job security protections for both workers and employers, with built-in dispute resolution frameworks included in nearly all active contracts.
After the roll call concluded, minutes from the 2025 Annual Delegates Conference were read aloud and formally approved by the assembled body. Treasurer Leslie-Ann Yearwood then presented the union’s annual financial report, detailing the organization’s current fiscal position. The AT&LU recorded a small operating surplus for the past year, though a large portion of the union’s savings was allocated to the renovation of its iconic historic headquarters at 46 North Street. Yearwood emphasized that despite the draw on reserves, the union remains on solid financial footing, with a still-substantial surplus that leaves it far from insolvency.
AT&LU General Secretary Alrick Daniel followed the financial report with a summary of his 24-page annual organizational report, delivering a 20-minute overview that highlighted the union’s ongoing success in meeting the needs of its represented workers. In his remarks, Daniel issued a warning about newly formed labor unions that are attempting to poach members from the AT&LU by making unrealistic promises that they cannot deliver. He stressed that these new groups can only convince workers to leave the AT&LU by spreading false claims about their ability to deliver better gains.
President de Nully also addressed a longstanding inequity in government workplaces, where non-established workers often receive special allowances that are not available to their established colleagues. He pledged that the union would prioritize correcting this injustice in upcoming collective bargaining negotiations. De Nully then opened the floor for any other general business, with two topics raised for future discussion: a call to improve the union’s public outreach to better highlight its wins for the general public, and a proposal to increase the standard $5.00 weekly union dues. No final resolution was reached on the dues proposal during the conference.
With all business concluded, the conference closed with a final prayer and a group singing of “The Red Flag,” bringing the 87th Annual AT&LU Delegates Conference to a formal end. The event closed with a round of enthusiastic applause from delegates ahead of a closing luncheon.