Members gathered in Fort Amsterdam and were addressed by Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas (right).
WILLEMSTAD--A week after speaking out against current legislation restricting its representation rights, Curaçao education union DOEN sought answers from the Council of Ministers.
The board spoke to Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas (MFK) on not being allowed in the Central Commission of Trade Unions CCvV and – consequently – the Centrally Organised Consultation of Civil Servants CGOA. That happened at the government seat in Fort Amsterdam, where members had gathered.
A formal objection to the decision has not yet been submitted, said union president Marbella Felipa. as they are considering other steps to challenge government's refusal.
It regards the law which states that the union must represent at least 5% of the total number of civil servants. For DOEN this should be 193, but the union has existed only four years and has 60.
Teachers union Sitek does occupy a seat on the CCvV/CGOA. The issue not only concerns DOEN, but also STSK. They say that because members of the platform have discussions with government about the legal position of personnel, it is discrimination to exclude unions representing some of these employees.
The DOEN board is now waiting for government's next step. Going to court is an option, to obtain a ruling on whether the rule is discriminatory and thus unconstitutional.
Furthermore, the union is working on reinforcement, not just by recruiting more members, but also by prompting awareness of why a union is necessary to stand up for the rights of members and to cultivate solidarity in an individualistic, capitalist society.
The challenges in education are countless, so civil servants in this field need each other to solve problems and form a block to stand up for their rights.
Government can now do two things, said Felipa: either they let the matter die, or they solve it, for example by amending the law with a so-called LBHAM (national decree
containing general measures), for which Parliament does not have to be consulted first.
The union will not leave it at that. “We have been around for four years, but our members have much longer experience.” They are busy gathering expressions of support in society.
“We will not budge,” DOEN said in a statement after the meeting, “until the day when the rights of all employees in education are respected, whose legal status now differs because they have no say in the CGOA.”
DOEN has now received support from one-seat opposition party “Trabou pa Kòrsou” (TPK). Its spokesman Sherwin Thielman said the employer must ensure that the legal position of teaching staff, who also fall under the national ordinance on civil service law LMA, is the same as that of all civil servants, regardless of which union they join.
Other members of the CCvV/CGOA are ABVO (civil servants), NAPB (police), STrAF (customs and tax authorities) and SAP (judicial system).
To be admitted to the Central Commission of Trade Unions CCvV one must meet the established criteria, Minister of Administration, Planning and Service BPD Ornelio “Kid” Martina (PNP) had stated in a letter to DOEN.
Martina was replying to an earlier letter from DOEN dated March 4, in which the union responded to the minister's decision not to be admitted to the CCvV/CGOA. He said ABVO, NAPB, STrAF, SAP and Sitek all comply with the rules.
