(Barbados Today) Barbadian former staff of the regional airline LIAT have now gone a year and a month without being paid a cent of the severance money owed to them – a situation so dire it nearly cost an ex-worker’s life, they said Thursday.
Going for 393 days without any payment has led to at least one person attempting suicide and others struggling with depression, losing their homes and their ability to support themselves. Many have had to depend on the support of loved ones, they said.
At a tearful press conference, the ex-workers pleaded for financial assistance from Government to help them get their lives back on track.
Barbados, the largest shareholder among four Eastern Caribbean governments, joined with St Vincent and the Grenadines to sell their stake in the carrier last July after more than a year of wrangling with Antigua and Barbuda, the island-hopping carrier’s home base.
