However, other sources say that the members of the tripartite committee have documents that were signed by the former government and the Minister of Labor Bruney Elhage.
Well placed sources say that the commissioner has invited the committee to a meeting on July 15th and members of the committee requested a postponement which was granted to them. The new date for the meeting it is understood was set for July 28th at the government administrative building. However, some members of the committee caucused at the WIFOL building and decided they were going to boycott the meeting and submit a letter to the commissioner's office.
SMN News learnt that the members of the tripartite committee did not inform all parties that they had intended to boycott the meeting because the secretary of the UFA showed up to the meeting and was highly embarrassed with the tactics used by the members of the tripartite committee.
SMN News also learnt that while several members of the committee had agreed to attend the meeting, one member representing the Chamber of Commerce is the one they said instigated the other members to boycott the meeting for political reasons.
According to the letter submitted to the commissioner's office on Thursday afternoon it states that "following the second request to have a meeting with the Tripartite Committee that will include other partners in the community and has an agenda point "Restructuring of the Tripartite Committee" as mentioned as an agenda point in your mail of July 15th we the SHTA, the Chamber of Commerce, the UFA, and the WIFOL are hereby informing you of the following. Considering that the Tripartite Committee that was officially established through the recommendations of the Minister of Economy and Labor Bruney Elhage and confirmed by besluit 3993/06 on July 19 2006 and also ratified in a letter from the executive council 1175/09 on April 2 2009.
The committee is officially established comprises of two representatives from labor, the UFA, and the WIFOL representing the island government: The labor department and a representative of the Minister.
As such the members of the committee are of the opinion that before any initiative to be taken with regards to any changes to be brought to the present tripartite committee a meeting should take place with the current members first.
SMN News further learnt that the intention of government is to broaden the committee with other members from the private sector and the unions. One of the persons they said government intends to add to the committee is the CBA representative Elco Rosario someone the business sector is contesting because this person they said filed bankruptcy and he should not be a representative of the private sector.
Currently the office of the labor commissioner is dealing with several cases where workers are being penalized based on the current labor policy and they were hoping that the committee would have assisted in finding solutions for the grey areas of the policy.
While some adjustments were made to the age limit in the amended labor policy they said that are several persons who are currently working and had working permits in the past can no longer get their permit renewed. SMN News learnt that several security companies on the island are scratching their heads into finding a solution for their workers.
Managing Director of Checkmate Security Michael Kuiperi said currently his company has four workers working illegally due to the age limit. Kuiperi said one of his employees is 24 years of age and she has working documents three times before and now her papers were denied because she is not 25 years old. The businessman said his workers have been contributing to society and they are paying their dues yet government is not able to find a solution to regulate the so called grey areas in the labor yet they were able to find perfect solutions for those persons who applied for the Brooks Tower Permits.
