Cay Hill:--- The medical staff and other workers of the St. Maarten Medical Centre had a strong message for the institution's medical director Dr. George Scot during their protest action on Tuesday. "The time has come for you to go Dr. Scot" said the workers who were frustrated over the delay in their Collective Labor Agreement.The actions taken by the workers supported by the St. Maarten Health Care Union was intended to send a strong message to the management team of the St. Maarten Medical Center who chose to cancel a meeting with the union on Tuesday. The union was busy negotiating the Collective Labor Agreement with SMMC with the help of government mediator Kenneth Lopes. On Tuesday parties were expected to discuss the increased salaries for the workers and other benefits when the government mediator stuck a letter in the doorway of Julian Lynch President of the Health Care Union on Monday night informing him that Tuesday's meeting has been cancelled.
The workers said the reason they decided to protest by walking off the job periodically on Tuesday was because they have had enough. A shop steward told SMN News that they are not robots and management of SMMC must respect them.
The union and the workers made contact with the Minister of Health and Labor Cornelius De Weever and requested his immediate intervention.
Minister De Weever immediately responded to the medical workers request to meet with them to avoid further actions by the workers who said they were willing to walk to the Government Administration Building to meet the Minister if necessary.
During the meeting, Greg Arrindell outlined the grievances of the union and its members before allowing the workers to express their feelings to the Minister. Arrindell said information regarding the hospital's finances was supposed to be given to the union but that information was given to the workers by memo on Tuesday claiming that the hospital is again in red.Sheila Richardson said they have been abused ever since Dr. Scot took office. She said the time has come for the workers to get what is due to them. The workers who works in management she said is paid triple their salaries with benefits but the real medical staff are not being taken care of.
One worker who worked at the institution for 15 years told the Minister that the time has come for the director of the SMMC to leave forthwith. The worker said the director has been abusing and disrespecting the staff while taking care of his own self interest. She highlighted areas of incompetence from highly paid staff and asked why those persons are still on the payroll.
Nurse Brenelda expressed her frustration by explaining to the Minister that Dr. George Scot is wearing a number of caps at SMMC, she showed the Minister letters which was signed by Dr. Scot as director, consultant and president of the board. She said she is wondering if Dr. Scot is receiving separate salaries for the different positions he is holding. The long time nurse said they were told that the sacrifices they made for the St. Maarten Medical Center when the institution was in financial trouble some years ago was by their own choice. "Dr. Scot our medical director has no respect for us and while he has sweet words in his mouth his mission is to get rich so that his children do not have to work when he leaves the hospital." The union members said Dr. George Scot is paid by SMMC as a consultant to the institution yet he has hired his own consultant.
The well known educational nurse also explained to the Minister that Dr. Scot has been travelling endlessly to Holland where he is allegedly taking a course paid for by SMMC. She wanted to know who is paying the traveling expenses for Dr. Scot and wondered if his constant traveling and high salaries paid to foreign doctors is the cause for the hospital's finances to be in red. The nurses also informed the Minister about constant rumors which state that Dr. George Scot still cannot produce his crib number for his consultant company to the hospital and they are wondering if he is registered on St. Maarten. They said they heard Dr. Scot is registered in Holland where is also serving as a director for another institution.Nurse Brenelda said they are not even allowed to attend funerals of love ones unless they send their request in writing to Dr. Scot. "In the past we did not have to go through this when we need to show support to our colleagues when they lose a loved one. Our supervisor would arrange for us to go to funerals as we would do so responsibly."
Jules Carty told the Minister that each time they have to negotiate the CLA the hospital would claim they are in the red. He said according to his memory the hospital had gotten out of the moratorium because the hospital received a lot of donations. He said management told them that they could order whatever they needed because there is money. Carty said the medical director verbally abuses the workers which is what is creating leaks. He said everyone knows that Dr. Scot spends two to three weeks in Holland per month. He said they wrote a letter to the Supervisory council asking for explanations pertaining to the assistant director who was appointed and they were told that is not the union's business. He warned the Minister that he personally knows the law and he also knows how to get answers based on the articles of incorporation.
The medical workers made other revelations to the Minister such as informing him that the gynecologists that were recruited from Holland with very high salaries were not paid through the SMMC all of which has raised eyebrows. Speculations are that the foreign gynecologists who were hired on short term contracts were hired through Dr. Scot's consultancy company.
The workers made clear to Minister De Weever that they need their union to get back around the table on Tuesday to continue discussions about the salaries and other benefits that are due to the workers.
Minister De Weever left SMMC promising the workers and the unions that he will make some phone calls to the government mediator so that they could reconvene their negotiations. SMN News later learnt that Minister De Weever was able to get the mediator and management of SMMC to begin re-negotiations by 7pm on Tuesday night but that too was delayed as management walked out of the meeting room. According to the workers, the Minister met with management and the mediators who finally agreed to meet on Thursday morning.
The memo that was sent to workers on Tuesday describing SMMC’s financial situation.
Click here to see more photos of the St. Maarten Medical Center workers in action.