Telecommunications workers
down tools over grievances
PHILIPSBURG--Several aspects of the operations of the TelEm Group of Companies and Smitcoms came to a standstill on Tuesday, when an estimated eighty workers downed tools to draw attention to their grievances.
The throng of workers assembled in front of the Government Administration Building for a major portion of Tuesday morning.
Some offices of the TelEm Group were closed as a result of the work stoppage and work at the offices that remained open slowed to a snail’s pace. However, mobile, landline and Internet functions were not affected.
The action was called off late Tuesday when Government Mediator Kenneth Lopes informed St. Maarten Communications Union (SMCU) that mediation talks between management and the union would take place today, Wednesday.
The workers abandoned their jobs early Tuesday to meet with their union to pressure management and government to give them a guarantee that no worker would be dismissed before or after the restructuring of the TelEm Group and Smitcoms.
The workers and their union are sceptical about promises made regarding the reorganisation and fear that the promises are an election gimmick, as no one is making commitments in “black-on-white.“
The representatives also want management to return to the negotiation table and complete talks for a new Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) by Friday, April 13. They are also calling for negotiations for their social plan to be completed by Monday, April 16.
“The workers will go back to work (today, Wednesday), but they’re not quite happy,” SMCU President Lusdon Evers said late Tuesday. “We need clarity about what will happen to the workers.”
Management declined to comment on the impact of the work stoppage on the companies operations. Through Corporate Communications Officer Joe Dominique, management said, “Due to the delicate nature of the negotiations, management sees it fit not to comment at this stage. But we apologise to the public and assure them that we are doing out utmost to rectify the situation.”
The workers downed tools early Tuesday and converged at the Windward Islands Federation of Labour (WIFOL) building on Walter Nisbeth Road around 9:00am.
After brief discussions, the workers went to deliver letters of protest to Smitcoms Managing Director Curtis Haynes and TelEm President Director Edward Benjamin, and to Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams and Telecommunications Commissioner Franklin Meyers at the Government Administration Building. Meyers reportedly was not in the building at the time.
The large gathering of workers remained outside the Government Administration Building for most of the morning and only returned to WIFOL building after Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams had met with the union.
At one point during the demonstrations, politicians of People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) and National Alliance (NA) were on the scene.
Evers said Wescot-Williams had informed the union that she was aware of their concerns and had brought them up in previous Executive Council meetings. She urged the union to await word from TelEm Group and Smitcoms officials and promised to contact the officials about the matter.
Due to the action, the company’s Tele Point location at Le Grand Marché and the Simpson Bay and Post Office locations were closed. The TelCell branch on Walter Nisbeth Road and TelEm’s branch on Cannegieter Street remained open, but The Daily Herald understands that operations were slowed to a snail’s pace. It could not be ascertained whether the company’s location at Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities was affected. Smitcoms remained open.
Asked whether hampering the operations of the financially strapped companies wasn’t going to do more harm to the companies and by extension the workers, Evers said the workers were hurting and need their grievances addressed. “They keep neglecting the employees. … The employees are also suffering.”
Evers said the union had been attempting to get its CLA discussions off the ground since August 2006, to no avail. He claimed management was turning a blind eye to its demands.
The union also said earlier that it had been brought to its attention that management had said SMCU had agreed with the company’s plan and that the CLA/Social Plan had been signed, but noted that that was not the case. “For the sake of clarity, we would like to emphatically state that we have never agreed to any of our members being sent home,” the union had said in an earlier statement.
The TelEm Group and Smicoms have a combined total of about 200 employees, including management and supervisory personnel. Of this number, about 120 are members of SMCU.
Talks between the union and management have been shaky in recent weeks, with both sides making public statements via the media about the non-progress of their discussions. Only last month, workers in TelEm’s Operations Department downed tools to protest, among other things, the vehicles made available for them to carry out their duties. The workers complained that the vehicles were not roadworthy.
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