PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of the Windward Islands Civil Servant Union (WICSU) and the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) will begin industrial actions tomorrow, Tuesday, June 11th, 2024. Membership in the two unions representing civil servants and teachers will be held at the Little League ballpark.
President of the WICSU Sharon Cannegieter, who is currently in Geneva attending the ILO and ILC meetings, said that the members have decided to down their tools after listening to the Minister of Finance, who released a video statement on Friday explaining the payment schedule she will be using for the vacation allowance.
Cannegieter said that the membership of the WICSU and WITU is very concerned with the Minister's attitude and the fact that the Minister of Finance, Marinka Gumbs, opted to break the covenant signed by members of the CCSU and former Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs.
Cannegieter said that if the government of St. Maarten did not have the money to make the payments, then the matter could have been discussed, but this, she said, is not the case because the Minister wants to pay 6% of the vacation allowance on the 14th June, then salaries on 24th while the other 1% on June 27th. She said this is not what is stated in the signed agreement, and that agreement must be respected. The WICSU President further explained that while the Minister of Finance spoke about the vacation allowance, she has yet to address the 2% Cost of Living Adjustments.
In the meantime, Windward Island Teachers Union President Roxanna Pantophlet met with the Charlotte Brookson Academy's membership on Monday morning to discuss the 2% vacation allowance that is owed to them. Pantophlet said that while civil servants and teachers working at Government Schools received their 1% in December 2023, the teachers from some of the government-subsidized schools have yet to receive theirs.
