Philipsburg:--- The court of First Instance was packed to its capacity on Thursday morning with the workers of Pelican Resort Club during their injunction hearing. Many of the workers were forced to stay outside of the court house for the lack of space inside the building to accommodate them. Sitting in the court room were mostly shop stewards and the few workers that understood the Dutch language.The 182 workers of Pelican Resort Club will know their fate on Tuesday as the judge of the court of First Instance will decide whether or not the Simpson Bay Resort Management Company BV (SBRMC) is their legal employer.
The workers through their union Workers Institute for Organised Labour (WIFOL) filed an injunction against SBRMC who has so far refused to take the responsibility as their legal employer. Royal Resorts, the company that managed both the old company and the new company filed for dismissal of all the employees after they could not reach a workable agreement with the union and its members.
Representing the workers was Attorney at Law Martin Le Poole and Wim van Sambeek while Attorney at law Jairo Bloem represented Royal Resorts and SBRMC.
WIFOL demands Naf 50,000 in damages and continuation of the labour agreement. Several companies were mentioned, along with of Member of Parliament Jules James. Lawyer alleges a shell game was played as the old company is same as new company with a different name, but same old faces, Jules James, Corso, Sutton and Gamboa
During the injunction hearing, the judge asked specific questions to attorney Jairo Bloem about SBRMC and why the employees were left behind. It was clear that the judge was trying hard to keep track of the many companies and entities operating at the Pelican Resort, WIFOL asked the judge to grant them two demands. The first was to rule that the new entity taking over Pelican should respect the current contract between WIFOL and Pelican Resort Club Management Company N.V. while the second was to award the union Naf. 50,000 in damages for union busting tactics by the defendants, RR Management Company of Belize, and the new management company, Simpson Bay Resort Management Company B.V..WIFOL also requested that the court to find that the new owner RR Management Company N.V. a company operating in St. Maarten but for some strange reason domiciled in Belize and Simpson Bay Resort Management Company B.V., a new company incorporated on St, Maarten in December 2010 as the direct successors of Royal Resorts and Pelican Resort Club Management Company N.V.
WIFOL alleges in its suit that Corso promised that the bankruptcy would not affect the employees. After the bankruptcy WIFOL alleges that Corso informed the employees that the new owner, had no legal obligation towards them. Thereafter, the well known saga commenced with the employees between being offered first 6 months then one year contracts by the new company, and finally, with the new company pushing them unto the street and attempting to hire new employees.
The defendants in this case, RR Management Company of Belize and Simpson Bay Resort Management Company B.V. claim that since they are both new legal entities they cannot be obliged to take over any obligations of the bankrupt Royal Resorts which was sold to QIT in an auction on December 16th. They further claim that they are neither the successors nor the assigns of the bankrupt Royal Resorts.
WIFOL advanced five legal arguments to convince the judge that the new companies are indeed legally bound to honour the collective labour agreement. In addition, WIFOL asked the court to award them Naf 50,000 in damages caused the actions of the defendants, which weakened the prestige and influence of the union. WIFOL also claims damages because up to the present the defendants are still trying to weaken it by attempting to draw away its members with individual contracts. The judge will issue his written verdict on Tuesday. It can be concluded that the saga surrounding the employees and Pelican is nothing more than complicated and has left many people confused.