Philipsburg: --- The Chamber of Labour Unions met on Saturday to discuss the removal of the revised labour policy by the executive council. Addressing members of the media were President of the Chamber of Commerce Glen Carty who also participated in the meetings with the unions.
Carty said the unions as well as the chamber would be seeking to have an urgent meeting (tripartite meeting) with government to discuss the reasons why they chose to put the revised labour policy on hold. He said there is a resolution in place for government to discuss matters such as these with the tripartite committee before decisions are taken. The Chamber president said the former executive council implemented the policy without notifying the committee while this new executive council removed it without saying anything. In both instances they learnt of the decisions taken by government via the media.
Carty said as the Chamber they do not have answers to several questions their members would be posing about the future of the policy. He said at the moment they do not even know which policy is being used for the application and processing of the labour permits. The chamber also wants to know how government would proceed with the applications that were filed since January 12 when the new revised policy took effect. Another concern for the chamber is how would government deal with the persons who already paid the processing fees according to the revised policy, and if the applicants whose requests that were turned down laid down by the stipulations of revised policy can now reapply?
He said he wants know if the applicants would have to pay again should they re-apply or if government intends to reimburse people half of their monies since those that applied as of January 12 paid double. Carty said while businesses have valid questions the Chamber simply cannot answer them because government did not see it fit to update them on how they intend to move forward.
The Chamber President said he believes government should have met with them so that all of their concerns would have been clarified. He said the unions are angrier because there is modern day slavery taking place on St. Maarten and there are things that need to be tackled. Carty said while the Chamber was never in full agreement with the entire policy and that they are happy that it is no longer effective, he still wants to know how government intends to tackle the unnecessary influx of foreign labour.
In the meantime, President of the Chamber of Labour Unions Willy Haize said the unions not only want a meeting with government but they are going to insist that the revised policy be reinstated. Haize said government has an agreement with the tripartite committee to evaluate the policy by August this year and they were to meet and discuss the policy and the amendments.
Haize said by throwing out the policy workers on St. Maarten are left powerless since they no longer have rights. He said the revised policy clearly indicates that St. Maartener’s would have first preference in the labour market, second comes the Antilleans, thirdly the Dutch after which persons with permanent residency can be considered for vacant positions.
Haize said all foreigners wishing to come to St. Maarten to work has to remain off island until their working documents and proper accommodations have been provided. He said the reasons these stipulations are in the policy was to have control on the influx of foreign labour. He further explained that there are several conditions that have to be met in the revised policy such as housing, since people can no longer be living in shacks on St. Maarten.
Haize said according to international laws everyone should be employed in their own country but if one has to look at Front Street there are only Indians working in the stores, while the locals are not able to find work.
He said should these people be allowed to work on St. Maarten they would have to train the locals which is what is stipulated in the policy. This he said also goes for the Chinese who are not employing locals.
Haize said he became very angry about the matter after the United Federation Union President Francis Olivacchi approached the commissioner of labour Hyacinth Richardson and asked him why he removed the policy and not consult with the tripartite, the commissioner of labour he said responded by saying he is government and they are free to whatever they wanted and those that are not happy should seek a meeting so that the matter can be discussed. Haize said St. Maarten is not in a state of communism instead this is a democratic island. “When a commissioner can say things like that it leaves us to wonder where we are heading as a nation”.
Glen Carty said after the meeting both the Chamber and the unions wants the same end results. He said the Chamber represents good cooperate citizens or businesses that do not exploit the labour force, meaning that locals must be given priority in the labour market.
Carty said right now the innocent are paying for the guilty with the revised policy. He said there are instances where locals cannot be found for certain jobs, for example in heath care and the employers are stuck with the revised policy. He said the Chamber had intended to bring these matters forward in August and for the exact reasons they said they were happy when the policy was pulled last week.
He said he felt that since the executive council decided to put the policy on hold last week he felt they would have begin working immediately but so far no tripartite meeting has been called leaving the business community in limbo. Haize said right now they do not know if the tripartite committee still exists or if the new government has abolished this committee. If the tripartite is still in place then the government would have to consult with them prior to taking decisions he explained.
In the meantime, President of the Windward Island Civil Servant Union William Reid said he wants to emphasize that the present government did not oppose this policy when they were in opposition. Reid said when the policy was debated in the island council the opposition did not oppose it which means they had agreed to it and they want to know what has changed from then to now.
He said now that government has ignored them from the inception they want to send a clear message to them that this cannot continue and they should not take the Chamber of Labour Unions for granted and figure they can continue this way. Reid said they want government to know they disapprove on how they handled this matter and the CLU will not tolerate this type of attitude. Also raising their concerns is the President of the Windward Islands Federations of Labour (WIFOL) Theophilus Thomson said government violated article 144 of the ILO convention which clearly states that there must be social dialogue with all stakeholders when establishing any policy that would effect society. He said the business community, government and labour are the three essential avenues to developing any nation, therefore they agree in consensus that an urgent meeting should be held with the tripartite body.