PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The chairman of the Council of LIAT trade unions, Chester Humphrey, has poured cold water on efforts by at least two regional government leaders and a senior aviation official that the aviation industry should also be classified as an essential service, with legislated restricted rights to strike.

Humphrey told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that he disagreed with the recent remarks by St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and his Antigua and Barbuda counterpart, Baldwin Spencer agreeing to support a statement by Ian Bruton, the chief executive officer of the regional airline, LIAT, that the aviation industry should also be classified as an essential service.

Brunton said that tourism is the mainstay of the majority of the region's economies and air services connect the countries of the Caribbean.