The president of Antigua and Barbuda’s largest trade union has leveled serious allegations of workplace mistreatment against senior leadership at the country’s Public Works Department, claiming systemic harassment is pushing vulnerable contract workers out of their jobs.
Bernard de Nully, leader of the Antigua and Barbuda Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU), made the claims during his keynote address at the union’s 87th Annual Delegates’ Conference, where he centered his remarks on growing systemic social injustice and the erosion of fundamental labor rights across the nation’s public sector.
According to de Nully, the targeted harassment campaign specifically impacts hundreds of non-established workers – a group that includes young laborers, single mothers working to support their families, and individuals who have been granted second chances to rebuild their lives through steady employment. He claims management has deliberately used tactics of frustration and intimidation to create a hostile work environment that leaves these workers with no choice but to stop reporting for their shifts.
“These are young people, single parents, and folks who have worked hard to get back on the right track and turn their lives around,” de Nully told delegates. “They are being pushed so far by constant mistreatment that they simply cannot bring themselves to come back to work anymore.”
Once workers step away from the hostile workplace, de Nully alleges that department management intentionally mislabels their departure as voluntary job abandonment. In reality, he argues, the intentional creation of an unworkable environment amounts to constructive dismissal – a clear-cut case of unfair termination under labor law.
De Nully emphasized that every worker, regardless of employment classification or job role, is inherently entitled to dignity and respectful treatment on the job. “A member of the cleaning staff deserves the exact same level of respect as a departmental general manager,” he stated, noting that this basic standard of human dignity must be upheld for all workers, whether they are employed in the public or private sector.
In his address, the union president did not name individual affected workers or share specific documented cases of the alleged constructive dismissal. His claims are part of a broader critique of long-unresolved labor grievances across Antigua and Barbuda’s entire public sector. De Nully closed his remarks by urging all workers across the country to stand in collective unity to demand that their fundamental employment rights are respected and upheld.