PHILIPSBURG:--- The Presidents of various unions on St. Maarten will be holding information sessions on Wednesday afternoon to update their membership on the negotiations they had with government on their Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for the years 2011 and 2012.
President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) Claire Elshot and President of the Windward Islands Civil Servants Union (WICSU/PSU) Derie Leonard told reporters on Tuesday during the Windward Islands Chamber of Labor Unions' weekly press conference that they are not in favor of government's idea to bring in a consultant from the Netherlands to conduct a survey on how to structure the indexation for civil servants.
WITU President Claire Elshot said that it seems as though government does not know how to do business because they intend to pay a local consultant on St. Maarten to obtain the figures and then they want to pay another company in the Netherlands to tell them how to do the indexation. "Those in the Netherlands do not know the real situation here on St. Maarten and there are consultants on St. Maarten that can do the same job as the ones the previous Minister of Finance wanted to bring in. Furthermore, government said they budgeted 50% of the COLA for the year 2011 but we want to know when government will pay the other 50% and when they will pay for 2012." Elshot said that the people should take an example on the big white elephant on Pond Island (Government Administration Building) she said Government has this building that they are paying rent for and yet they have to rent another building to house them and their staff. Leonard on the other hand said people need to know who that building belongs to because one thing is said about the ownership of the building while another thing is said on the street.
Derie Leonard from WICSU/PSU said that she wants the politicians to know that elections is just around the corner. She said she also listened to the press briefing last week when a reporter asked the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance if they will review the salaries of Ministers and Members of Parliament. Leonard said that the two Ministers said that Ministers and MPs salaries are bound by law and they are professionals. Leonard said the Minister insulted the civil servants especially her because she wants to know what criteria there is to become a Minister or MP. "As far as I know there is none, anyone can be appointed Minister or anyone can get elected to become an MP yet their salaries are mandated by law. I need those in government to know that there are criterias in place for civil servants. Teachers and other civil servants have to meet certain requirements before they are employed. Last year the Prime Minister told the members of the GOA that the COLA payments will bankrupt the government and she will get back to them with a proposal. To date the Prime Minister did not go back to the GOA with that proposal, what they are doing is communicating with the stakeholders via the media, therefore I will do the same by telling the Prime Minister that the civil servants ranging from the police, tax department workers and others will not accept the 50% they budgeted for the 2011 COLA payments." Leonard said civil servants are entitled to the 2011 and 2012 COLA payments the way it is structured and they are open for discussions for the 2013 COLA payments. Leonard also made a call on her members to hold their ground because the government of St. Maarten has to show respect to its people. "Government was elected by the people and they have not shown respect to the civil servants and the people of St. Maarten. Civil servants have families to feed. Leonard said there are pensioners that are living in poverty, and all is not well on St. Maarten. She said she wants to know what is the priority of government right now. "I know there is enough monies in government's coffers to pay the COLA. They still have the idea for the Justice Park and they are looking to save monies for that and other projects that interest them." Leonard said that in July 2013 the WICSC/PSU dispatched a letter to the Prime Minister requesting that they meet to discuss the COLA payments. Leonard said they received a correspondence from the Prime Minister telling them that the COLA payments was going to be discussed that same day in the Council of Ministers' meeting but to date they did not get a follow up. Leonard said that when St. Maarten was placed under higher supervision the current Finance Minister was brought in and today he is the Minister of Finance. She said the people of St. Maarten have to look at the bigger picture.
The President of the WITU said that prior to St. Maarten becoming a country there was the "indexeering" which according to her is a law on how civil servants are to get their indexation. Elshot further explained that when St. Maarten became a country certain laws from the former Netherlands Antilles were taken over by the various countries and if the law on indexation was not taken over then the Members of Parliament that are receiving huge salaries need to start working for the $10,000.00 they are getting every month. They should start by drafting a legislation on the COLA payment. Elshot said that the workers were told they were going to receive a lump sum because that is what was placed in the 2013 budget. She said right now the workers are confused with the information they are getting. Elshot also slammed the Minister that took a unilateral decision to place 50% in the budget for the COLA payments without consulting with the stakeholders. Elshot said civil servants have to get 4.6% as indexation but to date they don't know what the workers will get.
Elshot said to date they did not hear if the government of St. Maarten would equalize the vacation allowance as it is throughout the Kingdom. She said in her view the monies government is going to take to pay these consultants they (government) should take that monies and pay the workers the COLA payment that is owed to them. Elshot said that they are reading in the newspapers about St. Maarten's economic growth and she wants to know how is possible that government did not share in that growth, she further stated that it appears as though they would have to teach government how to do business.
