The workers said some years ago the former Managing Director and now Governor of St. Maarten Drs Eugene Holiday told the workers that they would not be receiving any salary increases for a period of seven years until the mortgage of the facility is paid off.
The workers said while they were not in favor of the decision taken by the then director they went ahead with what they called the "bitter pill." The workers said it has been 12 years now they are waiting for a salary increase but that is not forthcoming and the director is no longer at the helm of the company. Besides that the workers said they were asked to hold on after the incident of 9/11 and most recently they were reminded about the economic down turn that has had global effects. One worker said that the former director had put in place an evaluation system which would compensate the workers if they exceeded beyond expectations. "The highest one can go in the evaluation is excellent and with that you can get 2.75% of your gross salary as compensation. However, none of the workers has ever managed to get an excellent which would have earned him or her less than $100 as an evaluation increase." The workers said the former managing director promised the over 200 workers that when the mortgage is paid off they would get a salary increase but that has not happened.
Another breaking point for the workers is the intention of the supervisory board of PJIAE and the Curacao based union ABVO to extend the current Collective Labor Agreement for another 3 years without the workers participation. The workers said the ABVO, CLA is not beneficial to the workers on St. Maarten. The workers said when ABVO signed the first CLA they had a 5% increase over a three year period which eventually rose to 9% each time the CLA was renewed but somehow the percentage decreased back to 5% after 12 years. The workers said ABVO does not communicate with the workers or the members they represent locally. They said based on the CLA's signed for Curacao airport workers are on a much higher scale than St. Maarten even though their economy is lower.
"Those people have some sort of special relationship with PJIAE management and they would come discuss and sign the CLA without the workers knowledge." The workers said they have never gotten the opportunity to discuss the proposals offered by the airport or even to give their own suggestions." They said the last CLA which is expected to expire in December gives the workers a 9% salary increase but with some understanding ABVO has decided to drop that back to 5%. The workers said instead of them moving forward or getting more monies their salaries remains frozen. The workers said they are forced to work two jobs to be able to survive on St. Maarten. They further explained that while PJIAE is the second best paying company on the island, most of its workers are living in the low income houses in Belvedere. "The workers at PJIAE are underpaid, the facility is sometimes understaffed and promises were made and not kept. The people out there just don't know what goes on at the Airport and we have one message for the deputy leader which is that he must take care of the PJIAE workers before dipping his hands in the cookie jar for his projects." The workers also made clear that they have no problem with the Minister's intention to take the monies from the airport to invest in community projects, but the Minister they said would have to take care of them first."
The workers further explained that the workers at the Curacao airports are working for much more monies than those on St. Maarten. "What someone has here after 18 years of service at the airport is the beginner's salary in Curacao." The workers are blaming the former managing director for their predicament claiming that when Drs. Holiday got the loan for the airport expansion he refused a 15 year plan to repay the loan and said it wanted a seven and half years loan plan.
