标签： Antigua and Barbuda

The Antigua and Barbuda Emergency Medical Services (ABEMS) has made an exciting announcement highlighting a major milestone for the organization’s professional growth: two of its standout staff members, department supervisor Akelia Carr and experienced paramedic Mauli George, have been chosen to represent the agency at EMS World 2026, one of the most prominent global gatherings for emergency medical services professionals. The high-profile conference is scheduled to run from September 29 through October 5, 2026, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

This opportunity for Carr and George to attend the international event is far more than a professional development perk for the two individuals; it underscores ABEMS’ long-standing, unwavering dedication to advancing industry expertise across the entire department. For years, the agency has prioritized continuous learning, upskilling for frontline staff, and the ongoing improvement of emergency medical outcomes for every resident and visitor across Antigua and Barbuda. Investing in attendance at a leading global conference aligns directly with that core institutional mission.

Organizers of EMS World design the annual event to bring together emergency medical providers, industry leaders, and innovators from across the globe to share cutting-edge research, emerging clinical techniques, new operational frameworks, and the latest advances in pre-hospital care. During the week-long conference, Carr and George will take part in hands-on skills workshops, keynote presentations from global EMS pioneers, panel discussions on systemic challenges and solutions in pre-hospital care, and networking sessions with peers from dozens of countries.

Once the pair returns home from Orlando, ABEMS has planned a structured knowledge-sharing initiative to ensure the entire department benefits from their participation. Carr and George will lead internal training sessions, develop updated operational guidelines based on new best practices learned at the conference, and disseminate key takeaways to all on-duty teams across the nation. ABEMS leadership anticipates this cross-department knowledge transfer will deliver tangible, long-lasting improvements: it will boost the agency’s overall operational capacity, streamline service delivery protocols, and ultimately raise the standard of emergency care available across the twin-island nation.

As the two professionals prepare to represent Antigua and Barbuda on this global professional stage, ABEMS has officially extended its full support and warm best wishes to the pair. Agency leadership has emphasized that it eagerly anticipates the meaningful, far-reaching contributions the two will make to local emergency care when they return with their new insights and skills.

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.

At the 87th Annual Delegates’ Conference of the Antigua and Barbuda Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU), union president Bernard de Nully has brought long-simmering public-sector labor grievances back into the spotlight, placing urgent focus on the years-long dispute over unpaid overtime for workers at the ABS facility.

De Nully emphasized that despite a clear legal ruling already ordering the disbursement of owed overtime payments to the ABS workforce, the case has dragged on for years without any tangible resolution for the affected employees. He noted that these workers have continued to fulfill their professional duties in good faith throughout the prolonged delay, but mounting frustration has become overwhelming for many of them. “Payments to ABS workers should be paid forthwith. Right is right and wrong is wrong,” de Nully stated firmly during his address to conference delegates.

The ABS overtime dispute is far from an isolated case, according to the union leader. He detailed that a host of unresolved labor complaints have plagued public-sector workers across the twin-island nation, with some outstanding issues remaining unaddressed for anywhere between 10 and 20 years. Past worker protests at three major public institutions — the Central Board of Health, the Solid Waste Management department, and the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre — serve as stark examples of the unrest stemming from these unaddressed grievances, he added.

De Nully used the conference, held this year under the unifying theme of “developing stronger workers for a stronger future,” to urge the union’s membership to maintain solidarity in their push for resolution. He warned that internal divisions among workers would erode the hard-won gains that have been secured through decades of collective bargaining, undermining the labor movement’s ability to advocate for fair treatment.

Representing more than 10,000 workers across Antigua and Barbuda, the AT&LU remains one of the most prominent organized labor voices in the country, and its annual conference serves as a key platform to surface and push for action on systemic workplace issues affecting public and private sector employees alike.