After a near-decade legal battle with former employees telecommunications giant LIME lost its final appeal at the Privy Council Court earlier this week.

The decision comes nine years after the company, then Cable & Wireless, made over 20 workers redundant and the affected employees, represented by the Antigua & Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) lodged a complaint in the Industrial Court and the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. The company lost both appeals.

In a last-ditch effort to have the ruling overturned, Cable & Wireless took the matter all the way to England, to the Privy Council, where they lost yet again.

Commenting on the development, General Secretary of the ABWU David Massiah said the ruling represented a significant victory for the labour movement against big compamies and it demonstrates that the union will stop at nothing to defend workers’ rights.

He said this means that the workers can now expect a pay-out from the telecommunications company by some time this month.

“The ruling for the workers means that they will finally get their rewards according to the judgement that was handed down in the Industrial Court in March 2007,” Massiah said.

He added that Cable & Wireless had agreed to pay each employee four weeks for each year, however, the union and the affected employees disagreed, demanding at least six weeks for each year worked.

Cable & Wireless disagreed, thus beginning the nine-year court battle.

“This is victory for the former Cable & Wireless workers and the ABWU,” the general secretary said. “I am not in a position to quantify at this time because it involves a number of other employees who, in the initial stages, their names were not listed on the petition that went to the court and we had to add some names, so this may include more than 21 workers.”

Former ABWU general secretary, Ambassador Sir Keithlyn Smith, who spoke from London, said he was extremely happy with the outcome of the ruling.

“I am very proud of the verdict,” he said on Tuesday. “This is a remarkable achievement and vindication for the ABWU and the labour movement on a whole.”

Attorney-at-law Charlesworth Browne represented the workers.

When contacted Corporate Communications Manager for LIME Paula Lee chose to reserve comment for later, as she said the company was not in a position to speak.

(Courtesy of the Antigua Observer)