From Antigua Observer

Workers at the now defunct Caribbean Times newspaper are yet to receive their severance and there has been very little progress in the matter.

In making the disclosure, Andie Stephens, industrial relations officer with the Antigua Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU), informed OBSERVER media yesterday that the only development thus far, is the union’s engagement with Hugh Marshall, the attorney acting on behalf of Caribbean Times’ owner.

The Caribbean Times severance matter surrounds Member of Parliament Asot Michael who was reportedly the owner of the newspaper, though he has never acknowledged it publicly.

The union official said that she made contact with Marshall about two weeks ago, and provided him with the figures for the amounts owed in severance to the employees.

She noted that Marshall acknowledged receipt of the information but also informed her that up to that point, he had not been instructed by his client to deal with the issue.

The matter, which was taken to the Labour Department around May, is still to be assigned a date for conciliation, where the involved parties will be invited to negotiate with each other.

The Caribbean Times newspaper officially ceased operations in January this year and since then workers have been in limbo about their severance.