Communications union unhappy
with merger talks, gives ultimatum
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Communications Union (SMCU) is unhappy with the direction of talks with the management of the St. Maarten Telecommunications Holding Company, the TelEm Group and Smitcoms, and has requested an urgent meeting with officials of the companies to discuss two “confusing correspondences” it has received.
The union wants to meet on Wednesday, January 17, and is prepared to take legal action if management refuses to meet with it to resolve its concerns.
The union wants to proceed with negotiations for a new Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) and work out a social plan for the workers of the TelEm Group and international carrier Smitcoms, which are expected to be transferred to St. Maarten Telecommunications Operating Company under a merger arrangement. The operating company will be overseen by the holding company.
Holding Company Interim Chief Executive Officer Joe Richardson declined to comment, but said whatever steps were being taking with regard to the employees were being communicated to Government Mediator Kenneth Lopes
SMCU President Ludson Evers said the talks with Richardson had started on good terms but had taken a questionable turn late last year when the union received a letter from Richardson saying it was not recognised as the legal representative of the workers of the recently-formed holding company and as a result could not enter into negotiations with the company.
Evers said the letter had been sent after Richardson promised to get back to the union by December 15. He said that for now the union was only interested in discussing the extension of the CLA for an additional year pending the transfer of workers to the merged company and in working out a social plan spelling out the workers’ benefits and security under the new company.
Evers said the workers were concerned about their positions, as no information about the merger was being shared with them despite requests from the union for information sessions to be held.
He said too that while the union had been told by Manager of the TelEm Group Edward Benjamin that nothing was being done about the merger, it had learnt from press reports that the companies were being merged and operating and holding companies were being formed. It also learnt through press reports that steps were being taken to proceed with the physical merger of the companies.
The union is also questioning a “confusing letter” it received from Smitcoms Managing Director Curtis Haynes late last year saying that the CLA, which ended on December 31, would be extended for another year. Evers said the union found the letter disturbing, as it had already sent Smitcoms and TelEm management correspondences earlier terminating the previous CLA.
He said that while the union had never received a response, it had submitted a draft CLA, which also did not receive a response. Evers said a meeting to discuss the CLA had even been set up late last year. He said the union didn’t have a problem with the CLA being extended, but wanted it to be done with the proposed changes the union had recommended.
In an invited comment Haynes said there was no conflict with the union. He said the company had “an enormous amount of challenges ahead” and “the issues with the union can be resolved very amicably. … At this point I don’t see any reason to comment. We have an open door policy where the union can come in and discuss what should happen.”
The union believes that management has bad intentions, judging from its actions, and is calling for an urgent meeting to discuss its concerns.
Alluding to the constitutional changes being embarked on by St. Maarten, Evers said the merger should be done in a proper manner. He wondered what would be the case when Central Government workers were to be transferred to the island territory, if the merger and transfer of workers from the TelEm Group to the new company was being done in such a haphazard manner.
SMCU Assistant General Secretary Sherman Serastis, who said he had been working with the company for some 18 years, shared similar sentiments. He said he believed a “game” was being played with the employees and called for clarity.
“We don’t like the direction things are going,” said Evers. “We think there are hidden agendas.”
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