Philipsburg:--- The President and Vice President of the Windward Islands Chamber of Labour Unions (WICLU) at their press conference on Tuesday said that their intention is not to criticize the government of St. Maarten. WITU President Claire Elshot told reporters that their members are very pleased with the information they get via the weekly press conferences that are held by the WICLU. The main objective the President and Vice President of WICLU said is to bring more awareness and information to their membership through the media.
Elshot said the intention of the unions is to stress heavily on the importance of Labour Day (May 1st) which will be celebrated on St. Maarten in the next two weeks. Elshot also commended the President of the Youth Parliament for her comments regarding the level of the Parliamentary meetings currently taking place. Elshot further lamented that the youths on St. Maarten are looking for role models and information which they are in dire need of in order for them to be the leaders of tomorrow.
Elshot said the meetings held in Parliament are not educational, therefore the WICSU and the WITU are doing their best in providing information every week in order to create better awareness.
Elshot also gave an outline on some of the activities that are planned for Labour Day 2013. Some of those activities are a church service and the ceremonial activity. At the latter ceremony, three persons will be receiving awards. One of the awards are for the historic leadership in trade unionism, contributions given to trade unionism, while the third category will be the 'spirit of labour' which will be given to someone that works for the unions behind the scenes or in the background. The unions also intend to create a booklet with information in order to inform workers about Labour Day and its historical values.
The WITU is also very pleased with the cultural calendar that was prepared by the Minister of Education, but they felt that the Minister (government) should go further by having a booklet made with information for the general public.
Elshot said that by the end of this week the survey on violence will be completed. She said that a number of schools already send back the survey forms that were distributed to them but the final collection will take place this week. Another project the WITU has completed is their newsletter which will be distributed shortly to teachers on St. Maarten. The newsletter will serve as an informative tool on the plans of action of the unions.
Regarding the motion submitted to the Minister of Education on the increase of salary scales, Elshot said to date the Minister of Education has not responded to their letter. The union she said intends to send the Minister a reminder on the motion which had over 400 signatures.
Elshot said the unions are following the budget debate that is currently taking place Parliament. She said despite the information that was released during the Parliamentary meetings, the union and the members do not fully understand what government intends to do regarding the payment of the COLA.
