Philipsburg:--- The actions taken by the teachers and civil servants unions during the last four days were considered to be of a political nature, says Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams. The Prime Minister made her assessment known during the weekly Council of Ministers press briefing.
Wescot Williams said several Members of Parliament took the opportunity to break down the government rather than caucusing to find a solution to the predicament government finds itself in. She said the members of parliament who did that are suffering from “SMS-- Short Memory Syndrome.” She said the same members of parliament governed for 18 months without a governing accord, yet they condemn the UP/DP coalition for not having such a program in place after just three months in office.
The Prime Minister admitted that in the first draft budget the 5.3% cost of living allowance was included, but that was the budget that had a 130 million guilders deficit. Wescot Williams said while the cost of living allowance was in the budget there was no coverage in the budget for the payments to be made.
Wescot Williams said the leader of the National Alliance spoke of the causeway in the lagoon which he said is preventing the teachers and civil servants from getting their cost of living allowances. She said the causeway/bridge is not in the 2011 budget and even if it was it would not have been in the same bracket as salaries.
The Prime Minister also attacked the statements made by Member of Parliament Louis Laveist whom she said used the situation of the Pelican workers and made it a gender thing. The Prime Minister said she took serious offence to the statements made by Laveist and had it not been out of respect for the position she holds as Prime Minister she would have told Laveist where to go and look and who to blame for the treatment of women in country St. Maarten. However, her message to Senator Laveist is that if he is looking for a horse to ride then he should not jump on her back as Prime Minister and most of all he should not make the Pelican affair a gender issue because she does not think he really wants to go there.
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The Prime Minister outlined the agreement that was brokered with the unions during a meeting with the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. Wescot Williams said the government supports the no work no pay policy in this particular case because the non-payment of the 3.3% cost of living allowance was not reason enough for the unions to call their workers to meetings during working hours. The Prime Minister said government is not disputing the rights of associating and the rights of assembly. However, even with those rights in place there are levels that trigger the urgent convening of meetings during working hours.
The Prime Minister said government will be informing its workers of the no work no pay policy and the rights of the workers. Wescott Williams said the only reason this policy is not applied this time was because of the good will gesture of government. The Prime Minister said that they have decided to do this because many of the civil servants remained on their jobs when the unions called them out to the meetings.
In the meantime, Education Minister Rhoda Arrindell said the truth behind the actions taken by the teachers were buried in the confusion created during the past four days. Minister Arrindell said she is happy that tempers seem to be cooling down.
She outlined the facts of the matter as teachers responded to the call of their unions which disrupted schools for four consecutive days. The actions she said took the school boards and her Ministry by surprise.
The Minister said the teachers specifically said they did not have any beef with her or her Ministry instead they said their problems are with the Ministry of Finance yet she came under vicious attacks when she reminded teachers that children have a right to an education.
Minister Arrindell said prior to her announcing the no work no pay policy she met with all school boards and they have agreed to the following:-
1. All parties reaffirmed the principles of no work, no pay, and in this particular case, this takes effect, today, January 31, 2011.
2. Students are supposed to be in school during school hours, in accordance with the law on Compulsory Education.
3. The Ministry respects the rights of the teachers to assemble; however, this should not be to the detriment of the education of children or at the inconvenience of parents.
4. The school boards informed the Ministry that they had not been notified by the union of the action to be taken by the teachers.
5. The school boards expressed the opinion shared by the Ministry that industrial action should be used as a last resort, when all other forms of negotiations have been exhausted, rather than taking action on the spur of the moment, without any consultation with the Ministry, school boards, and other stakeholders.
6. It was also decided that the days lost will be made up to the children before the end of the current school year.
7. The Minister maintains her open-door policy and looks forward to continuing the dialogue between teachers and their representatives in the interest of the education of our children.
Furthermore, the Minister stated that there was never an issue or dispute with the teacher’s salaries, the teachers she said will receive and will continue to receive their salaries.
Besides the cost of living allowances that teachers are fighting for, the Minister said there are other issues facing teachers which to her are far more serious. She admitted that materials are lacking in most schools and teachers would use their salaries (personal monies) to buy school materials for their classes.