~PJIAE Management does not adhere to PJIAE-ABVO CLA~
Since March 2018 until today the last day of September 2022, PJIAE management is not complying with the cost of living adjustment (COLA) clause in art 502 of the Collective Labor Agreement (CLA) agreed and prolonged between parties PJIAE and ABVO!
Until today September 30th, 2022 PJIAE management did not implement as stipulated in the CLA the annual adjustment of the base salaries and the salary components (like overtime, vacation pay, and all other allowances ) based on the cost of living increase!
Five years of management is promising to pay the cost of living adjustments! For five years already management is postponing these adjustments, while management is playing with the unpaid salary amounts of the workers!
ABVO did not sign a “partner and” agreement with PJIAE management!
God knows how they are investing that money and making a Return On Investment or earning interest on what had to be paid out to the workers! While our workers have to live monthly with less and less purchasing power since Irma hit Sint Maarten in Sept 2017, individual management members are affording themselves all kinds of luxury!
ABVO maintains that the only agreement PJIAE has with ABVO is the PJIAE-ABVO CLA! ABVO therefore will not agree nor sign a settlement agreement to pay the workers less than what they are entitled to as per March 2018, March 2019, March 2020, March 2021, and March 2022!
PJIAE management must comply with the CLA and pay late fee interest!
At no time ABVO agreed with PJIAE that PJIAE can “borrow” the unpaid salary adjustments of the workers against a ”0% interest rate”! All creditors of PJIAE are being paid what is legally due to them and interest has to be paid to them when PJIAE is not paying these creditors in time!
ABVO claims that the workers of PJIAE have to be paid what is legally due to them, including the legal interest fees! Enough is enough! ABVO SXM in its letter of August 28, 2022, to PJIAE management has demanded PJIAE to pay all workers before the end of September 2022 their outstanding correct salary adjustments since March 2018, increased with the legal late salary payment interest charges (“vertragingsrente”) as stipulated in art 1614q of Book VIIA in our Civil Code!
PJIAE asked ABVO to come to the negotiation table to consider a Settlement Agreement because of the after Irma financial position of PJIAE! But ABVO has never abandoned its position that PJIAE should not deviate from the CLA between ABVO and PJIAE.
Settlement Agreement is a “trick” to pay less than what is in the CLA!!
Meanwhile PJIAE management “tricked” our sister unión and non-unionized workers to agree with a Settlement Agreement proposed by management. PJIAE management even started to pay out these workers. Why do we consider this a “trick”? Because all workers were always been treated based on the PJIAE-ABVO CLA!! In the past every time the ABVO-PJIAE CLA is being implemented, not only the ABVO members but all workers of PJIAE according to “the equal job, equal pay principle” are receiving the same benefits as the ABVO unión members. Now they “tricked” our sister unión and non-unionized workers to accept a settlement that is deviating from the PJIAE-ABVO CLA!
COLA has to maintain the purchasing power of workers and their households!
While prices in St Maarten continue to rise, the salaries when they are not adjusted to the cost of living increase lose the purchasing power of the workers and their households. With households needing at least 5000 ANG a month not to be in poverty, deteriorating the purchasing power of the salaries is unacceptable! The PJIAE proposed Settlement agreement is not maintaining the purchasing power of the workers of PJIAE! ABVO, therefore, is not in agreement with the proposed Settlement Agreement and demands adherence to art 502 of the CLA!
Signing the COLA Pay Out is accepting to deteriorate purchasing power of your salary!
PJIAE with the settlement COLA payout is violating the “equal job equal pay principle” which PJIA until now has been implementing adhering to the PJIAE-ABVO CLA! PJIAE by tricking the workers to accept a settlement payout is violating their right to maintain the purchasing power of their salaries! Maintaining purchasing power of the salary is an acquired right in the PJIAE-ABVO CLA!!
PJIAE with this settlement trick is discriminating among the workers at PJIAE! By signing for the settlement payout you voluntarily waiver your right to maintain the purchasing power of your salary! Not even in a court of justice, you can annul this signature because you voluntarily signed and accepted the settlement trick from PJIAE management!
ABVO, therefore, wants to warn all its members and workers of PJIAE not to fall into this trap and not to give up their right to maintain the purchasing power of their salary!
ABVO awaiting a response from Management no later than today September 30th!
ABVO will hold a meeting for all employees of PJIAE next week (date, place & time yet to be decided), to share the latest information and the next steps.
In the struggle to maintain the purchasing power of the workers of PJIAE.
