Marigot:--- Workers from the Caisse Territorial des Oeuvres Scholaires (CTOS) working at the newly opened kitchen in Grand Case gathered at the Collectivity of Saint Martin early Friday morning as they silently protested against the inhumane working conditions at the newly built kitchen in Grand Case.The workers along with their union representative Nicole Whit said their objective on Friday was to meet with the President of the Collectivity Frantz Gumbs and the President of the CTOS Carenne Mills to iron out some of their concerns. Whit said workers working at the newly opened kitchen are putting their lives at risk since the building is giving out electric shocks through the appliances. The unionist said they already addressed the electrical problems with the Collectivity and they admitted that they are aware of the situation but has refused to fix the problem thus far.
Whit said besides the electrical problems workers have to deal with a gas leak and improper gas connections at the kitchen. She said her workers are forced to go to work as early as 05:00 am so that the meals can be ready by 10:00 am for distribution at the various schools. Whit said the regular (domestic) cooking gas is hooked up at the kitchen while there are fittings at the kitchen for commercial gas but those fittings are not in use. "Our members should be at work at 07:00 am and meals would be ready by 10:00am if the proper gas was connected, but right now they have to get up earlier to go to work. This is abuse and we are looking for a proper solution to this problem," Whit said.
Whit further explained that another concern for the union is the outsourcing of work that used to be done by civil servants. She said right now there are seven civil servants who are displaced while workers from an association were hired to perform their duties. Whit said the Collectivity has suppressed the posts the civil servants were holding yet they sub-contracted the same work to an association. "Right now we have teachers aids that have to clean the school toilets while that is not part of their job description."
Whit said the union signed an agreement in October 2010 which is being not respected. She said the union requested a number of reports but to date those reports were not turned over to them.
In the meantime, canteen worker and union member Nancy Fleming said the kitchen is not in proper order. She said her hope is that the Collectivity and the President of the CTOS would provide truthful information. She said the workers are being mistreated simply because they are part of the union. Workers she said are being manipulated and abused.
The union representative namely Nicole Whit said they waited in the "Salle Deliberations" of the Collectivity of Saint Martin until after 01:00pm on Friday and the President of the COM and the President of CTOS did not meet with them. "The elected representatives wanted to meet with the union representatives alone but we told them they had to meet with all the workers simply because those at the COM are constantly lying to the union representatives." Whit said that the union will be taking further action on Monday as they are now working on plan B on how to deal with the elected officials.
Click here to see photos of the CTOS protest.