Goodwill
Concerns of the St. Maarten Communications Union (SMCU) about the direction in which talks on the merger at TelEm Group are headed should not be ignored. Changes in corporate structure, especially when they involve transferring workers from one company to another, always bring with them questions and a measure of uncertainty.
In that sense, both the Holding Company CEO and the Smitcoms director are correct in calling for calm, especially if it’s true that the head of the federal Labour Department is being kept abreast of whatever steps are being taken with regard to the employees.
Nevertheless, the workers and their legal representation have a right to know what’s going on and, for that matter so does the public, because they are, after all, government-owned companies. The argument that the union is not recognised by the Holding Company also would not seem to make much sense if the person heading that organisation is the one who has been executing the changes.
If lack of communication is the problem, it can easily be solved by those heading the various companies looking beyond the so-called ultimatum and seeing the January 17 meeting demanded by SMCU as an opportunity to involve the union in the process more directly once and for all, so that the understandable concerns among workers can be adequately addressed.
The union, for its part, should focus on getting more clarity, rather than suggesting bad intentions and/or hidden agendas at this stage. Unless there are indications to the contrary, it should give management the benefit of the doubt.
That the entire merger raises questions, especially since the companies were split up not that long ago, is obvious, but in itself no reason to assume games are being played. If there is goodwill on all sides and the honest goal is indeed to make it better for the companies and consequently their employees, it should be possible to reach agreement.
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