PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of the Windward Islands Chamber of Labor Unions (WICLU) expressed grave concerns about a policy the Government of St. Maarten put in place for government vehicles without informing or involving the GOA when drafting the policy.
President of the WICLU Derie Leonard told members of the media on Tuesday that she recently saw the policy when someone from the Fire Department showed it to her and asked her how could the unions approve such a policy.
Leonard said sometime in 2013 the Department of Facility Services in conjunction with PNO and the Prime Minister's cabinet drafted a policy that stated that if a government vehicle was involved in an accident then the driver (civil servant) would have to endure the cost for damage to the vehicle.
Leonard said she is partly in favor of the policy, but felt that government must respect the GOA and consult with them when making these policies. Further she stated that emergency workers, such as the police, fire department and ambulance services should be exempted from the policy. "These are people that have to provide 24 hour services and they also have to endure some precarious situations when executing their duties which might lead to the damage of vehicles."
Leonard, Elshot and Evers all stated that they believe that the Government of St. Maarten does not need to have the amount of vehicles they purchase and most importantly they believe that the Secretary Generals, Department Heads and other civil servants that are using government vehicles 24/7 have to be stopped. Leonard said on several occasions she saw vehicles with "L" plates parked on the French side and many nights government vehicles are driven by civil servants on the French side and other places where these workers are using government vehicles for their personal use. "I think that every civil servant should go to work with their own vehicle and at the end of the work day park up government vehicles. This would save government monies and besides that the cost of maintenance will be much lower." Elshot said that government also needs to further maintain the vehicles they have parked up in their graveyards because some of the vehicles just need a tire or servicing.
The President of WICSU (Derie Leonard) said that the the unions already dispatched a letter to the Prime Minister seeking that the policy be amended. Elshot on the other hand said when she inquired she was told that the policy was put in place to curb the misuse and abuse of government vehicles.
SZV Applying Different Strokes for Different Folks --- 3 months pension denied for deceased pensioner.
The members of WICLU also raised several issues that they said are of concern to them regarding SZV. Leonard said that suddenly SZV is coming up with policies by the day which is basically affecting workers in general. She said just recently a police officer went to his house doctor and was told that SZV will only pay for 20 minutes of consultation with house doctors. Leonard said she saw the correspondence SZV sent to the doctor and she also wrote the Minister of Health and Labor Cornelius de Weever who promised to look into the matter because he was not aware of it.
Another policy SZV instituted is affecting everyone because certain medications they cannot obtain even when it is prescribed by their doctor. The most recent policy Leonard said she was confronted with is when the daughter of a deceased pensioner contacted her and informed her that SZV refused to give her the three months pension that is due to relatives of deceased pensioners that would help them defray the expenses they incurred when their loved one passed away. Leonard said that SZV basically told the person they are applying article 19 and 20 when they refused to make the payment. She said the argument SZV is making is not substantiated in the article and furthermore there is no known article that states that if a person has a burial insurance in place it will hinder their loved ones from collecting the three months pension that is due to them. Claire Elshot said SZV is using different strokes for different folks and she is calling on the Minister of Health to investigate what the Supervisory Board of SZV is doing. Elshot said for years SZV refused to admit a member of the union on the supervisory board but just recently that was done.
Elshot and Leonard said that the developments at SZV has become more about the dollars and cents and not the care of workers. Another issue Elshot raised is that several persons from the French side that contributed to the pension fund while working for years on the Dutch side cannot get their pension because they are not residents of Dutch St. Maarten. "When the deductions were made no one asked these workers that contributed for 40 to 45 years to the pension fund for a local address, but today that became a key requirement which is hindering a number of persons."
Where is the Consumer Protection Association? --- President Virgillo Brooks needs to give accountability.
The WICLU also dispatched a letter to the Prime Minister of St. Maarten requesting information about the Consumer Protection Foundation which was established sometime in 1985 where Virgilio Brooks was made president.
The WICLU president said just recently a consumer contacted her to find out where they could go to get assistance because the person purchased something at a store in Philipsburg and after three days it was not working. She said when the person went back to the store the owners of the store basically refused to change the item or refund the person their monies. Leonard and Elshot said they sent a letter last year to the Prime Minister asking her to provide them with information on the activities of this foundation. They said the Prime Minister told them that she would have a conversation with the President and then get back to them but to date no update was given. The WICLU intends to send a letter to remind the Prime Minister on the matter.
WITU President Denounced Actions of Teacher that Allegedly spat on student and used profanity at her.
President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union Claire Elshot is not at all happy with what she read in the newspaper about a teacher who allegedly spat on a student while using profanity at her in the presence of other students. Elshot said while she does not know the details of the incident she wants to make clear that what the teacher did is not at all acceptable in St. Maarten's culture. She said it appears as though teachers can do such things in Holland where the teacher came from but on St. Maarten that for sure is not acceptable. Responding to questions on the incident, Elshot said she would like an indepth investigation to be conducted to determine exactly what transpired. "We do have incidents where students are very aggressive towards teachers and they also provoke teachers but teachers are adults and they are the ones that are expected to act professionally. This teacher should have acted better instead of reacting the way he did." When asked if she would recommend that the teacher be dismissed, Elshot said as a union rep she has to represent the good, the bad and the ugly and while the actions of the teacher is not acceptable she will recommend that the matter be fully investigated before disciplinary measures are taken.
SMCU President sent Letter to PM --- Who is Merging with TELEM and why no CEO since 2009?
President of SMCU Ludson Evers who is the union representing TELEM workers said he has sent a letter to the Prime Minister requesting to meet with her so that the union could get pertinent information on the company. Evers said that he read in the newspapers that the Prime Minister agreed to have UTS merge with TELEM but when these questions are posed by the union to management of TELEM they are told that information cannot be given because the negotiation is still ongoing. It should be noted that the Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams announced at the weekly press briefing last week that she never told anyone who would be merging with TELEM. She said while that was stated in one of the newspapers she wanted to clarify that she never made such statement.
Evers said another reason he wants to discuss with the Prime Minister is to find out why TELEM is without a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) since 2009. He said TELEM is a telecommunications company but communication between the workers, the union and the company is lacking very much.