PHILIPSBURG--Members of the Fire Department are no longer willing to engage in back-and-forth discussions regarding the signing of a commitment letter aimed at resolving their concerns about placement and retroactive payments linked to their function book.
In a letter sent on Wednesday by Windward Islands Civil Servants Union-Private Sector Union (WICSU-PSU) President Sharon Cangieter to Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina, the union conveyed the Fire Department members’ frustration over unfulfilled agreements from previous meetings.
“We the members of the Fire Department wish to express that we are no longer interested in engaging in further back and forth communication regarding the signing of the commitment letter,” the letter states. “We are of the opinion that the agreement made and discussed during the meeting of May 5, 2025, and August 15, 2025, should be upheld.
“Point 2 of the agreement clearly states: ‘for the purpose of upcoming negotiations it is essential that neutral individuals are involved. Mr. Luud Hakkens, Mr. Pieter Lucas, Mr. Hensley Plantijn and Ms. Marisha Richardson shall not serve in this capacity or otherwise.’”
The letter says that this clause was accepted and ratified by the Prime Minister during the August 15, 2025, meeting. As the agreement allegedly has not been honoured, the union is requesting that a neutral mediator be appointed to handle the matter. The Prime Minister issued a press release on Wednesday indicating that the names of four people had been proposed as mediator.
In the letter to the Prime Minister, the members also raised concerns about government transparency. “We note that the minister also sought financial approval from the minister of finance, which differs from the information that we are privy to and further raises concerns about the transparency of the process,” the letter states.
The union expressed additional concern about a placement committee, noting that statements by the Minister of General Affairs indicated that documents had been sent to the Governor for approval. “We the members have no knowledge of such actions and are of the opinion that neutral and transparent negotiations and discussions should not be conducted in this manner,” the letter reads. The members confirmed that they remain available to sign the commitment letter once it is received.
Cangieter expanded on these issues during a live-streamed union update on SMN News Wednesday afternoon, accusing Prime Minister Mercelina of misleading the public about the Fire Department’s function book process and demanding a signed commitment letter to resolve long standing disputes.
“I am really tired of the blame game,” Cangieter said. “The members are tired of the back-and-forth. I believe in transparency, and honesty for me is the pivotal one. I am not gonna sit here and accept nobody saying lies. I am going to put it blunt – it’s lies.”
She said that statements made by the Prime Minister during the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday differed from the information provided to the union.
“First he said that the function book was given to the CCSU [Committee of Civil Servants Union] and then we could have taken it back to our members for discussion and then back to the CCSU. That is far from the truth,” Cangieter said. She added that the union had never had access to the draft before it was approved. “When the union got hold of that book, it was already signed, sealed, and delivered,” she said.
Cangieter explained that both the Fire Chief and the union had identified errors and requested revisions, but the function book had already been signed by the Secretary-General. She said that
after extensive discussions with the government during the first Mercelina Cabinet, the decision had been made to repeal the book and return it to the CCSU, but that did not happen.
“It didn’t go back to the CCSU; it went to the Chief,” she said, recounting that the Chief later had called her asking for agreement to move ahead with the book as-is in the interest of retirees. “I said, ‘Chief, I give it a max of three years, because we know how long government takes. … It must move.’”
Cangieter said that while the union initially had agreed to proceed temporarily, it was based on the understanding that the book would be adjusted later and applied retroactively to 2010. She accused the government of reneging on that agreement.
“If you are telling me that the agreement we made for the function book to go retroactive to 2010 is now being not agreed to, then we have a problem,” she said. “We will not be accepting a function book that was approved in 2025 when you have workers that have been employed since 2010.”
The union leader insisted that only a signed and stamped commitment letter can move the process forward. “I don’t want a communication letter. I need a commitment letter with only the points that we have discussed,” Cangieter said. “Stop talking, start writing—that’s all we are asking.”
She warned that vague government letters and unclear processes risk the welfare of Fire and Ambulance Department workers. “This particular document again is the detriment to the workers of the Fire and Ambulance Department if we do not get a signed agreement,” she said.
Cangieter also criticized the lack of clarity regarding the placement committee. “I don’t have no clue the out together of how this placement committee is supposed to function,” she said, highlighting additional concerns about transparency and procedural fairness.
The union hopes that the intervention of a neutral mediator will provide clarity and assist in resolving the matter constructively.
