We are nearing the peak of our tourist season which is January and February. These are the months when it is coldest in the United States. Many of these persons travel to the Caribbean to escape the cold for a while and St. Maarten also benefits from this. Hotels and restaurants, casinos and car rentals and other businesses earn the most revenues during this period. It is the time when seasonal workers are hired to reinforce the permanent staff, or so I thought.
I had a conversation with 3 single mothers (I am sure there are more). Two were laid off in November and the other one is on the last 2 weeks of her short term contract.
When asked why they were being sent home, the response was their contract had expired and will not be renewed. I did not hear statements such as “I was often late to work” or “I had a dispute with a colleague” or “I had a problem with my employer” or “I was told that business is slow and therefore I have to cut expenses.”
As a matter of fact, one was told that it was not personal. She is a mother of 3. The home where she lived was completely destroyed by Hurricane Irma and because of this she lived with friends for about 7 months, “walking on egg shells,” she said.
It is one thing to visit or spend a vacation with friends or even family. But imagine 7 months unemployed and having to depend on others (for which she will be forever grateful) for food and shelter while not being able to contribute anything can hit at the core of your pride. She was able to get a job last year July 2018 and was given a 6-month contract. In December of said year, her employer did not contact her or inform her about her contract but allowed it to roll over for an automatic extension which I understood is allowed by law. However, in December of this year she was told that her contract will not be renewed. She had just rented an apartment. But in the next two weeks she will be unemployed with no certainty of when she will find another job. What will she do in the meantime?
This is the experience of many persons on St. Maarten, especially single mothers. Employers who are doing this are contributing to the deterioration of society. We have no idea what these single mothers do just to put food on the table. We do not know what kind of relationships they get involved in just to survive.
The fingers are pointed at government and rightfully so, as this is laid down in our Constitution. And I also hold these employers responsible.
We have to revisit the short term labor contract, not tomorrow but yesterday. We are not Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Belgium or the Netherlands. In the Netherlands they have an unemployment Law where 75 per cent of the person’s previous salary is paid by government for a certain period. Hence we need an unemployment law. In the meantime, who will take care of these single mothers? Sent home for the season.
George Pantophlet
