St. Maarten Private Eye

From SMN News

Philipsburg: --- Teachers who completed one week of strike and plans to resume their actions early Monday morning has decided to continue their actions until 100% of the teachers on St. Maarten receives their retroactive payment. President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) in an interview with SMN News said that they have voted on another motion yesterday afternoon and have also sent a letter to the commissioner of Education Sarah Wescot Williams as well as commissioner of finance Roy Marlin notifying them that they are giving the island government until Monday 12 noon to pay the public school teachers.

Elshot said that Marlin sent a letter to her yesterday telling her that he would have the pay slips for the public school teachers on Monday. However, the teachers wants government to know that pay slips is not money and that they made it clear to them in a letter sent on Thursday they want their monies and that they want government to make sure the teachers are not sanctioned by the school boards.
Elshot confirmed that government already paid the retroactive payments to the school board who already paid out the monies to the teachers from the government subsidized schools. However, the union said that they would not be returning to work until all of their teachers get paid because they do not want to create a division among their membership.

In the meantime the Commissioner of Finance Roy Marlin said that he sent a letter addressed to the President of the WITU on Friday February 22, 2008, confirmed that pay slips for all public school teachers will be in their hands before noon on Monday, February 25, 2008.

On Friday afternoon February 22, 2008 the Finance Department provided all pay slips for all teachers in the public school system to the Department of Education for distribution to the public schools on Monday February 25, 2008.

“The Finance Department worked diligently again last night on the payrolls and will continue over this weekend to finalize the final controls, striving to forward payrolls to the banks for payment of salaries on Monday February 25, 2008 two days earlier than anticipated. This means that as of Monday afternoon February 25, 2008 teachers and all public civil servants will receive their salaries,” Commissioner of Finance Roy Marlin told the (GIS) on Friday.

In the mean time all School boards have commenced with the payment of the retroactive salaries to the teachers affiliated with the school boards as of Friday February 22, 2008.

The Commissioner of Finance learned this afternoon through a telephone conversation with the President of the WITU Claire Elshot, that a motion was accepted on Friday by its membership that teachers will not resume classes until all teachers are paid.

“I find this standpoint taken by the teachers very unfortunate, as all matters, as it stands now have been resolved with the first payments of salaries being made on Monday February 25, 2008. I do hope they reconsider their actions and take the interests of the children into consideration as well as working parents.

“It took some time to get the retroactive payments finalized, but what was decided upon in the meeting on Tuesday and subsequent discussions with the WITU, has been fulfilled and in the execution phase.

“I see no need for further action by teachers and the WITU on Monday upcoming, the beginning of a new school week. I urge the teachers and the WITU to use their good judgment and reconsider the decision made on Friday with all concerns having been taken care of,” Commissioner Marlin said on Friday.

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