The virtual Central Committee meeting held on Thursday.
PHILIPSBURG—The reportedly high number of businesses that have sought to or have been terminating employment agreements as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and government’s plan to tackle this issue were some of the key points of concern by Members of Parliament (MP) during a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Thursday, April 23.
Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA Richard Panneflek and his support staff addressed Parliament on these issues.
In his opening statement Panneflek shared his pleasure in knowing that there are many businesses that are continuing to look out for their employees’ best interest and continue to do what is right. However, there remain those businesses that fail to do so.
“The laws of the country must be upheld and the COVID-19 pandemic did not nullify our Civil Code. It is our fair expectation that the employers will act in accordance with the existing legislation and that at all times decisions will be taken that are the result of the discussions and mutual agreement between parties.”
Panneflek said employers cannot unilaterally suspend salaries. He urged businesses to pay full salaries or agree to a temporary reduction of salaries. “This reduction has to be approved by the respective employees. As Minister of Labour I will take the lead to initiate discussion with the tripartite committee and the unions to assess the overall impact of the COVID-19 and then find the gaps in our labour laws; and to put in place a fast track to close those gaps,” he assured.
He said the ministry would approach the Social Economic Council SER to seek advice on the best way forward in the COVID-19 pandemic and the overall impact from the social-economic perspective and the broad expected impact on labourers.
“Moreover, in my capacity as Minister of Labour I’m seeking the cooperation of businesses to be transparent in mind and my ministry will take the lead to ascertain the impact of the COVID-19 on the business sector,” he said.
“The Labour Affairs Unit continues to mediate on behalf of the employees. Applicable cases are referred to the court for handling. We have only received one official complaint so far and we have taken notice of the others that are playing out in the media and social media and we will be addressing them. I urge and implore employers to adhere to the precepts of the Constitution and our Civil Code to work along with the government to overcome this enemy.”
In closing, Panneflek said the mediator is in contact with the labour unions to ascertain the status of their membership regarding dismissals.
“So far it could not be established that such is the case among the membership of those unions who have reacted to the mediator’s request,” he assured. “It has been established, however, that some unions have agreed to reduction in working hours in order to avoid dismissals among their membership.”
United St. Maarten Party (US Party) MP Claudius Buncamper said money streams are drying up and businesses are currently laying off persons illegally and are also using clever ways to curb expenses. He asked, “What checks and balances are in place to prevent businesses from receiving the payroll stimulus and still terminating the labour agreements with their employees? Do we have any provisions in place to prevent this?”
Buncamper enquired whether there is a policy in place to properly handle requests submitted by businesses for permission to terminate labour agreements as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Do we have a policy in place on how we’re going to deal with it right now, seeing that the situation is dire and it might mean that we would want to adjust the law?” he asked.
He requested the current statistics on the number of requests submitted by businesses for permission from the Department of Labour to terminate a labour agreement as well as a list of the types of businesses that have submitted such requests.
National Alliance (NA) MP Angelique Romou said government mediators play a key role in the dismissal process. “Does government have enough mediators in service to handle an influx of dismissal requests and, if not, is the ministry considering contacting former mediators to assist with this process?”
She questioned how mediation discussions take place with workers, their representatives and Labour Affairs in light if the fact that the state of emergency has been extended for another three weeks.
“In the dismissal procedure it states that the administrative processing can take maximum six weeks, but in special cases with the approval of the minister of VSA an extension of an additional six weeks can be granted. Taking into consideration our current situation, what is the projected time frame government estimates to handle a case, especially if the ministry may not have enough manpower to handle an influx of cases?” questioned Romou.
United Democrats (UD) MP Sarah Wescot-Williams asked Panneflek to what degree had he had involvement in the stimulus plan of the government of St. Maarten. “Was the plan and all the components of the plan discussed with you as the one politically responsible for the areas; namely, Health, Labour and Social Development?”
The meeting was adjourned until Friday, April 24, as Panneflek requested time to allow him and his staff to answer the many questions posed by the MPs.
