PHILIPSBURG – The Postal Services does not have money to pay salaries over the month of November and this may lead to a suspension of all post office activities. “As long as the employees don’t get their pay for November they do not plan to go back to work,” said Ludson Evers, president of the St. Maarten Communication Union (SMCU) on Monday morning when the postal workers marched to the Government Building on Pond Island to demand a meeting with the government’s shareholder representative, interim Prime Minister Rafael Boasman.
That meeting could not take place immediately, because Boasman was in talks with the Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops, but he said that he was ready to receive a delegation later in the day.
Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS) has a monthly payroll of 90,000 guilders and monthly operational expenses of 240,000 guilders.
Before Hurricane Irma the bank allowed the Postal Services an overdraft to pay salaries. But the bank withdrew this facility after the hurricane destroyed the company’s only meaningful asset, its building on the Pondfill. On Monday morning, a lone supervisor offered postal services from a small office across the road.
“We plan to rally to the government building and speak with the shareholder representative to see what he can do for the employees,” Evers said. “They need their money.”
Evers said that the government knew there is a problem at the post office. “The management sent a letter to the Prime Minister with a request for a financial injection into the company. But there is no answer yet, while the same Prime Minister instructed manager Antonia Wilson to rehire Alex Richardson who was let go a couple of months ago.”
Evers acknowledged the government’s plans to outsource its Postal Services to the BES-islands. “Prior to that we need a financial injection to pay the employees,” he said.
Postal Services St. Maarten started in 2011 with zero funding, Evers noted. The company has currently 24 employees. Right now, it is not generating any income.
“We want to make sure that the restructuring goes fairly,” Evers said. “In 2014 we negotiated a social plan because when you are talking about restructuring and outsourcing, you know that not everyone will keep his job.”
Plans to place redundant personnel in the civil service are doubtful. “The former prime minister talked about that but he is a politician,” Evers said. “Politicians say a lot of things but they do not always keep their word.”
Above photo caption: Postal workers march towards the government building. In front from left chairman of the board Stuart Johnson, manager Antonia Wilson and unionist Ludson Evers. Photo Hilbert Haar.
Photo caption: The delegation arrives at the Government Building on Pond Island. Photo Hilbert Haar.
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