Philipsburg:--- A host of civil servants from all sections of government gathered at the WIFOL building on Monday night to discuss measures they intend to take with their unions against government for splitting their cost of living allowance and indexation.The civil servants who are represented by the Windward Islands Civil Servants Unions (WICSU/PSU) and the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) agreed unanimously to send a resolution to government informing them that they have 24 hours to respond to the decision taken by the union and its members which states that government must pay the civil servants as well as teachers on St. Maarten the balance of their cost of living allowance along with interest in their February 2011 pay-cheque. Government, mainly the Minister of Finance has until Tuesday 8:26pm to respond to the resolution that was sent to him by email. Should the Minister not respond to the demand of the unions and their members, the WITU/WICSC/PSU will be calling their members to another meeting on Wednesday morning.
The civil servants said government did not consult with their workers neither the unions when they decided to abandon the policy of 24 August 2010 which states that civil servants and teachers would receive their 5% cost of living allowance and indexation in January 2011. The former executive council received the advice from the heads of personnel affairs and they agreed at the time to respect the advice.The civil servants also expressed anger at the letter Finance Minister Hiro Shigemoto sent to the union and the fact they were not informed about being paid late in January. Shigemoto informed the unions that the council of Ministers has taken a decision in December 2010 to pay 2% of the cost of living allowance in 2011 and the other 3% would be paid in 2012. The civil servants also expressed anger at the fact that while government is fully aware that the civil servants including police officers were meeting with their unions they did not show any interest in trying appease their concerns. Thus they said government must be treated the same way.
The civil servants said that it is customary for them to receive their January salary by the 22nd of the month but this month they were not paid on time. Interestingly the disgruntled workers said they only received 2% of the cost of living adjustments which is against the advice given to the former executive council by personnel affairs.