Marigot:--- A former employee of Tac Gaz which is owned by the President of the Chamber of Commerce on French St. Martin Steve Tackling has taken his employer to court on Friday citing that he has been working for four years for the company and was never declared. David Marc told SMN News at the Palais de Justice on Friday morning that he is a born St. Martiner and he was hired four years ago as a handyman and his boss who is now the President of the Chamber of Commerce on French St. Martin never declared him at the Social Security and labour entities. Marc said sometime in December 2011 the French Labour Inspector visited the Tac Gaz station and conducted an inspection to see if all the workers of the establishment were registered. "The labor inspector found me working at the Tac Gaz station illegally and he began an investigation but my boss accused me of calling in the labor inspector and he eventually fired me from my job." Marc said he never called the labor inspector and ever since he was fired he was trying to obtain free legal aid which took months, and even though he went through the process he did not obtain legal aid but the union made them self available to assist him with the case. Marc further explained that while he was seeking legal aid to fight for his rights, the labor inspector was also busy conducting an investigation at Tac Gaz.
The General Secretary of the CFDT union Mme Lucie Major and her deputy were also at the Palais de Justice on Friday to see if the employer and employee could have come to a settlement. The CFDT General Secretary said that they could not come to any agreement because the employer has since produced documents claiming that his employee was declared on the Dutch side of the island. The union representative said that Marc is an employee on the French side of the island and the only thing he does is go over to the Dutch side to fill up the gas tanks and return them to the French side where he was found by the labor inspector. "The documents that the employer who is also the President of the Chamber of Commerce produced are all false documents so we could not accept mediation today, we had to ask the judge to send the case to the criminal courts which might take place early next year."
Several attempts by SMN News to reach Mr. Tackling on Friday proved futile as he could not be reached by phone.
