Member of Parliament Richinel Brug of the Unified Resilient Sint Maarten Movement (URSM) has taken a significant step towards ensuring fair representation for all civil servants in the collective bargaining process. In his first seventy days in office, Brug submitted a draft law proposal to amend the National Ordinance on Substantive Civil Service Law (in Dutch: ‘Landsverordening materieel ambtenarenrecht’, LMA). The LMA regulates the rights and obligations of civil servants. This amendment specifically focuses on granting unions from all sectors within the civil service the right to sit at the official collective bargaining table.
As it stands, the current law denies unions representing a significant number of members within a specific sector of the civil service the automatic right to participate in collective bargaining. The law mandates that a union must meet a 10% threshold of the entire civil service to be part of the Committee of Civil Servant Unions (CCSU). This restriction not only goes against a number of International Labor Conventions, particularly Conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), but it also creates an unfair disadvantage for unions that represent a large proportion of workers within one sector.
The current law has created a situation where unions who represent 25-30% of workers in their sector, who might be the largest union in that sector, do not automatically have the right to legally bargain for the rights of their members. One example is the Police union NAPB. Despite representing a significant percentage of workers within their sector and being the biggest union within their sector, the NAPB has been unable to legally negotiate for the rights of their members at the official bargaining table for more than a decade. In the past an exception was made to allow NAPB the opportunity to have a seat at the official bargaining table for a term of two years with the condition that NAPB would have met the 10% threshold moving forward. However, such an exemption should not be required as the LMA in its current state is in contradiction with several ILO conventions related to the right to collective bargaining. In the same manner, this 10% threshold can also impact other niche unions such as unions representing members in the field of Education.
With the proposed amendment to the LMA, MP Brug aims to align the LMA with ILO conventions 87 and 98 by granting every union that meets the overall 10% threshold, as well as unions that meet a 20% threshold within their sector, the formal right to participate in collective bargaining. This amendment would provide a fair and equitable opportunity for all unions to advocate for the rights and interests of their members who are civil servants.
This draft law amendment was submitted in MP Brug’s first 70 days in office. Brug wants to reassure frontline workers and the general population of his commitment to serve the people of Sint Maarten. In addition to this draft law amendment MP Brug has submitted 3 draft national decree proposals through the Chairlady of Parliament to the Council of Ministers. These draft National decrees containing general measures focus on the alleviation of poverty through a mandatory school meal program, the possibility of a risk allowance for frontline and essential workers and the elimination of maximum steps in salary scales for teachers.
“As a Member of Parliament, I believe it is high time we move away from grandstanding and start to legislate on behalf of the people of Sint Maarten.”
