Philipsburg:--- The head of the Department of Labour has dispatched a letter to the chairman of the Tenants Association of Pelican Resort Club (TAPRC) Arthur D'Italia informing him that the Department of Labour cannot process the dismissal request he submitted to them on January 12, 2012. Head of the Labour Department Peggy- Ann Dros Richardson said the department took note of the letter but they are unable to process the request since it does not serve as sufficient basis for processing the dismissal of the workers.Dros also sent a copy of the letter to the Workers Institute for Organized Labour where she indicated that said letter was also sent to the legal representatives of TAPRC informing them to file a petition by completing the relevant form which was also sent to them and to ensure the employer is TAPRC. TAPRC is asked to provide the evidence that identifies the statutory director of the company.
In the meantime, the President of the Workers Union for Organized Labour Theophillus Thompson told reporters on Thursday that to date he has not gotten any response from the labour department regarding the dismissal request that was filed by the SBRMC to dismiss 49 of the Pelican workers since July 2011.
The unionist said he met with officials of the Labour Department on Wednesday to discuss the Pelican workers who are still fighting a legal battle with SBRMC and it was then he was informed that the department has rejected the request of January 2012 but the status of the 49 workers was not discussed.
Minister of Labour Cornelius de Weever announced some weeks ago that he ordered an internal investigation to determine exactly what delayed the dismissal process of the 49 workers. On Wednesday, the Minister of Labour said he got a report on the investigation which he is studying while he asked the company SBRMC to submit to him a summary report so that he can properly evaluate the situation and take a decision.
Labour Department Promised to take Action against SBRMC with regards to Workers Rights.
The President of the WIFOL and WICLU Theophilus Thompson said he met with officials of the Labour Department including the Secretary General Joireen Wuite and Raphael Boasman on Wednesday where they discussed the latest development at the Simpson Bay Resort Management Company (SBRMC) and the Labour Department has since promised to take some action to safeguard the rights of the workers.
Thompson explained that the SBRMC extended an invitation to the workers to reapply for their jobs at the resort and many of the workers responded to the invitation. However, the workers were denied copies of the contracts they signed while some of them were not even allowed to read the contract they are were asked to sign. Thompson said a letter was sent to the company requesting copies of the contracts that were signed by the workers and to date SBRMC did not respond. In the meantime, the labour department obtained a copy of a contract but not one that was signed by the workers. Thompson said that one of the employees who worked for the resort for 18 years was even denied the opportunity to read the contract he was expected to sign. The WIFOL President said that someone from the human resource department read the contract for the employee and it was then he realized that he was asked to sign a contract that specified that he must undergo a two month trial period. Thompson said the former Pelican worker did not sign the contract but informed his union of what had happened when he went to SBRMC. Thompson further explained that some 60 workers signed the contract under duress and they too do not have copies of their contract which the labour department is trying to obtain. Thompson said 30 of the workers who applied for work at SBRMC refused to sign the contract based on the fact that they could not get a copy of the contract to read and to keep.
The WIFOL President made clear that the SBRMC is violating the rights of workers and he informed the labour department of the injustices and violation. He considered the meeting to be successful and the Labour Department has committed themselves to take decisive actions to ensure that the workers' rights are maintained.
Thompson said currently workers of SBRMC are treated like slaves based on what they are told are in the contracts the workers had to sign. He said the workers' rights are being violated because they are not allowed to go to lunch unless they finish their tasks or if they are not authorized to do so by a supervisor. Thompson said had the union received a copy of the contact the union would have denounced it.
Thompson said that WIFOL will not give up fighting for the rights of the SBRMC workers because the rights of all workers are currently at stake.
