SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament Cornelius de Weever on Wednesday weighed in on the "Counterpart Legislation," which the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) has warned the government against implementing.

De Weever, who noted that the policy is actually a law, said in a press release that "the ministry" had applied the law in one case. "The company took us to court and government lost because, according to the judge, we did not have a policy on how the law would be used, so the labour policy department wrote the counterpart policy in consultation with the social economic council and the tri-partite committee," De Weever said.

"One business owner of this tri-partite committee volunteered to have this counterpart policy applied in his company," he added. The implementation guidelines had to be drafted because De Weever said he does not believe that the counterpart policy or guidelines can be used across the board and that every business would be immediately subjected to it.

He said the policy had been used in the staff bureaus of the former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. "During my tenure as chairman of the St. Maarten Medical Center managerial board, we used the counterpart when we reserved and hired a local surgeon. So while the leadership of the Democratic Party and their supporting interest group(s) have voiced their concerns, know that we have heard all the reason(s) not to," De Weever said.

He added that when he had been minister he had witnessed exploitation of workers, while the ministry attempted to increase compliance to the labour laws via the Inspectorate and the Labour Affairs office. "The same DP leadership and interest group(s) have been yelling for "flexibilisation" of our labour laws because they want to be able to hire and fire as they please. I will not allow this to happen; they have clearly deviated from the original principles of the founding fathers of the Democratic Party," De Weever said. "Since we are in parliament I challenge anyone to bring a draft initiative law or an amendment to our current laws that take away the rights of any worker.

This issue affects all of us, our family, our friends and the workers of this island."

In the meantime, SHTA had said in a recent statement that a significant number of prestigious international organisations have advised against introducing such a policy. It also asked why government wanted to continue trying to implement something all local business representatives have voiced against.

SHTA had said at the time that answers to a number of questions are needed prior to the Counterpart Policy being "brought to the forefront again." The association asked what other worldwide jurisdiction has proven that a counterpart programme is successful.

It further wanted to know whether St. Maarten had data identifying who and how many will benefit from this policy, since the country's unemployment data was "dated and unreliable."

It also asked how many businesses can afford to pay two employees; a qualified full time individual doing the job and a fully paid apprentice counterpart. "Is this really a measure that will reduce unemployment or promote business and attract investors?" it asked.