Senator Jonathan Wehner Questions how PWD Workers are Owed Money since 2014 while 800 Hired Before Election

Opposition Senator Jonathan Wehner has placed responsibility for the escalating industrial action at the Public Works Department (PWD) squarely on the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Gaston Browne, arguing that a government able to hire hundreds of new workers ahead of the April 30th general election needs to explain why it has owed its long-standing labourers since 2014.

Speaking to Observer after a second wave of protests this month, Senator Wehner said he witnessed the demonstration outside the Prime Minister's Office on Queen Elizabeth Highway first-hand, where PWD employees pressed a single, blunt demand relayed through their shop steward: they want their money, and they want it now.

"It is baffling to comprehend how the government could be owing its public works workers since 2014, when according to the PM they took on about 800 new employees during the election period," Senator Wehner said. "You could find money for 800 new employees, but you couldn't pay people their back pay, their outstanding overtime. That's a slap in the face of the people."

The senator framed the standoff as a test of the administration's own promises. "Is this the renaissance we were promised? Is this the kind of government we would have voted for? I don't think so," he said, adding that the workers had vowed not to return to the job until they are paid.

A 12 Year Backlog

The grievances at the heart of the protest stretch back more than a decade. Established PWD employees say they are owed overtime pay covering 2014 to the present — a twelve-year backlog — while scores of younger workers hired in the run-up to the election say they have gone months without receiving wages at all.

The industrial action first erupted on Tuesday July 14, when dissatisfied employees used heavy-duty ministry trucks to barricade the roadway outside the Ministry of Works headquarters, bringing traffic to a standstill. At that time, some workers reported that back-pay sheets had already been processed and forwarded to the Treasury, but that the funds were never disbursed — leaving some without their back pay for close to four months. Ministry management met the workers that same morning and promised the outstanding sums would be settled, though no clear timeline was ever confirmed.

Two weeks later, on July 28, the protest resumed and moved from the Ministry of Works headquarters on St. John's Street up to the Prime Minister's Office, forcing PM Browne — who is also Minister of Finance — to come out and address the crowd.

No Resolution, and an Angry Phone Call

Senator Wehner said that while the Prime Minister engaged the workers at length, the encounter produced no settlement. He described PM Browne standing before the protesters for several minutes attempting to reach the permanent secretary of Works by phone, growing visibly frustrated when the calls went unanswered and resorting to expletives in demanding that the PS pick up — an exchange reportedly captured on video.

"Clearly there seems to be a breakdown in the structure of governance here in Antigua and Barbuda, specifically in the Ministry of Works," the senator said. "And I can only squarely put that at the feet of the Prime Minister, who through his policy decision decided to hire 800 new workers when he owed his long-standing workers their back pay and overtime."

Pressed on the accountability implications, given that PM Browne holds the finance portfolio, Senator Wehner said the situation reflected poorly on the administration's transparency. He recalled the Prime Minister previously characterising the workers as lazy and lacking a work ethic. "The people he's saying have no work ethic haven't been paid since 2014," Senator Wehner countered. "What kind of work ethic could I have, working in the hot sun, sweeping gutters and fixing roads under pressure, when money owed to me since 2014 hasn't been paid? They are right to be outside protesting."

Describing the matter as a twelve-year problem with no solution on offer from either the finance minister or the works minister, Senator Wehner said the relevant officeholders "should resign because they're showing incompetence."

"Where is Maria Browne?"

The senator reserved particular criticism for the absence and general silence of Minister of Works Maria Browne, the Prime Minister's wife, throughout the unrest. He said she was not seen at the ministry headquarters protest and was absent for much of the demonstration outside the Prime Minister's Office, arriving only near the end. "I didn't hear her say anything to any of the workers," said Senator Wehner, who noted he had remained on the scene to observe.

Her absence has become a recurring question. Minister Maria Browne has issued no public statement on the workers' grievances or how they will be resolved, surfacing instead on Facebook to threaten political activist George Wehner with legal action for raising questions about her ministry. She was also reported absent from a recent sitting of the House — said to be for a second consecutive time — with sources suggesting she had travelled to St. Lucia on a family vacation. Separately, this news outlet has reported that the Prime Minister told Barbuda MP Trevor Walker he was unaware of the industrial action, despite it centring on the ministry his wife heads.

For Senator Wehner, the pattern points to a single conclusion. "It clearly gives credence to the opinion that the Prime Minister is the substantial Minister of Works," he said. "This is a sad situation, Antigua and Barbuda."

The matter unfolds against a wider fiscal squeeze. Despite record revenue collections by the Customs & Excise Division, the Government has struggled to meet salaries and pensions, with Ministry of Finance sources pointing to the cost of hosting the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as a drain on the Treasury. Workers have signalled they will keep up the pressure until the outstanding monies are paid.