SMCU union rejects TelEm’s pay cut proposal

PHILIPSBURG – The St. Maarten Communication Union (SMCU) has labeled the proposal of salary cuts by the management of telecom provider TelEm an “indecent proposal.” Chairman Ludson Evers and Secretary Sherman Serastis wrote in a letter to TelEm-director Kendal Dupersoy that the union “does not agree with any cost cutting measure that would have a direct negative financial impact on the employees.”

The union still wants to have a discussion with TelEm-management about cost-cutting measures but not before the company provides a truckload of information about the costs of, among others, consultants and legal advisers.

The union wants detailed information about consultants and companies that are working for TelEm. Evers and Serastis want to know the total costs, including the expenditures on travel, accommodation, car rentals and allowances.

Furthermore, the union demands information about the annual costs of catering and maintenance and about the money the company spends on legal advice.

The next request is a list of government departments and companies that have outstanding bills with TelEm.

Do managers get allowances that are not part of the collective labor agreement? That’s another question in the letter. The union also wants an overview of the travel expenditures on employees, managers and supervisory board members for the past five years.

It also requests insight in costs and benefits of investments, the business plan for the past five years and audits and financial reports over the same period.

Evers said in an interview with reporters that the company “is being mismanaged.” He said that the letter director Dupersoy sent to the employees does not leave room for negotiation and that it also contains threats. “The company is in bad shape and it is using the corona-virus crisis as an excuse to come up with these measures.”

According to Evers the company has “too many consultants” that use office space at the company; he also pointed out that there is not enough money to complete the fiber to the home project.

###

Watch the interview with SMCU union leader>>>

Related links:
Union wants forensic audit at TelEm reinstated
Reply letter SMCU union to TelEm
Financially Troubled TelEm
Telem sends letter to union; all salaries to be cut by 12,5%
TelEm Letter to Union re decrease labor conditions
Stimulus plan asks Netherlands for 254 million