The Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) is calling on employers to honour their legal obligations to workers by paying them for public holidays, including Labour Day, even when they are not scheduled to work.

Speaking at Monday’s Labour Day rally in St John’s, ABWU General Secretary Chester Hughes said too many businesses were exploiting a legal loophole to deny workers compensation when they are given the day off.

“When you’re given the day off on a public holiday, the state has already given you that day as a day of rest,” Hughes told supporters. “That is why the labour code says it is not compulsory to work on a public holiday. But indeed, it also says that if you do, you get two and a half times the pay.”

Hughes singled out sectors such as construction, hospitality and retail, where he said workers were routinely told they would not be paid if they did not show up on holidays.

“In the hotels, in the stores uptown, they give you the day off and then they say they’re not paying you because it’s a public holiday. That’s unacceptable,” he said. “You should enjoy the public holiday as every worker in this country.”

The union leader said the Industrial Court had already ruled that if a worker is given a day off for a holiday, they cannot be made to forfeit a day’s pay. He insisted employers must either pay for the holiday or provide a substitute day off with pay.

“This is the law. The people must rebel, the people must fight,” he said. “We are saying today to every employer out there—pay the people for today.”

Hughes warned that the union would not remain silent if the trend continued, and signalled that industrial action was on the table if workers’ rights were not upheld.