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Action amounts to blackmail – Prime Minister
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds
By Nadia Guyadeen
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds yesterday described the Air Traffic Controllers’ strike action as blackmail.
According to him, dismissal of the persons who have taken strike action is on the table.
However, he added that he hopes that they will come to (reality) and resume duties.
“I am still hoping that the Air Traffic Controllers would see that their action, more or less, is amounting to blackmail of the society.”
Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn, said that an advertisement is to be placed in regional newspapers for Air Traffic Controllers.
According to Minister Benn, the Air Traffic Controllers are in a position whereby they have walked off the job and have voluntarily separated themselves from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority.
The Minister noted that as of now Guyana Civil Aviation Authority will maintain the situation whereby they have daylight landings.
“…We expect that within a month or so we will return to full 24-hour operation.”
He stated that he is of the view that those air traffic controllers who have been misled should quickly resume work.
Minister Benn added that his position stands where a wage increase is concerned.
“There is no money to give…there is no money. We have to have our feet on the ground.”
He said that the Air Traffic Controllers have signed an employment letter accepting the conditions of work, pay and other related things. This, he added, amounts to a contract.
On this issue, the Prime Minister also cited a similar case in the United States in the 1980’s whereby the then President, Ronald Reagan, had laid off all of the Air Traffic Controllers who had gone on strike.
He said that this is something that should be kept on the table.
Prime Minister Hinds did not confirm whether or not the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) had approached him for dialogue with regards to this matter but said that he would have the same message to them as the air traffic controllers.
“They need to be consistent; we can’t on the one hand be calling for even more pay for a group that is already being paid two to three times what their (compatriots) are being paid in the public service and in the security services.”
He noted that the persons from the Met Office housed in the same tower had said that they were unhappy with the fact they are comparable people and were getting $45,000 a month versus some $85,000 a month that the Air Traffic Controllers get.
Also, General Manager of Caribbean Airlines, Carlton Defour, said that in light of the situation the airline has been forced to cancel two night flights everyday until February 7.
He said that he hopes that something will be done about the situation before February 7.
According to him, the cancellation of flights has caused great inconvenience to passengers, especially those coming from Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Defour noted that the airline has not modified its flying schedule as they are still going into Trinidad. “What we are doing is that we are pulling everything into Trinidad until we can get clearance to come into Guyana.”
He said that they have been providing hotel accommodation and snacks to stranded passengers.
He also said that they are informing customers of the situation when they are checking in so as to minimize the inconvenience suffered by the passengers.
According to Defour, it is costing the airline because of the hotel accommodation and even the delays because sometimes they are forced to delay other flights.
The situation at the airport led to a CARICOM function yesterday morning being delayed as delegates were unable to get into Guyana on time.
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