AIRPORT--The managing board of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) operating company PJIAE has urged its employees to not participate in rumoured industrial action slated for tomorrow, Wednesday.
This is what PJIAE chief executive officer (CEO) Brian Mingo, chief financial officer (CFO) Leo van der Meiden, and chief operations officer (COO) Michel Hyman wrote in a letter to all airport employees on Tuesday. All three managing board members signed the letter.
According to the letter, the action threatens to disrupt the airport's operations and shut down the runway.
The reasons for the rumoured strike are unpaid bonuses and salaries from as far back as 2017, and the reinstatement of CEO Mingo on the court's orders.
Employees protested against their unpaid bonuses and salaries in July 2020.
The letter tries to persuade grieved employees to not carry out their strike plans because of the country's precarious financial situation, which requires the airport - its main tourism gateway - to remain fully operational.
St. Maarten is scheduled to begin homeporting services for cruise ship "Celebrity Millennium" in less than two weeks.
The managing board wrote in the letter that they have informed Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs and Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Ludmilla de Weever about these developments, and have made a contingency plan in case of a strike.
