PHILIPSBURG--The unions representing the Police Force had a chance to air their grievances with Acting Justice Minister Richard Gibson during a meeting on Monday.
The details of the meeting could not be ascertained, as Gibson declined to comment on them when contacted and the police union representatives could not be reached for comment after the meeting.
The meeting originally was scheduled for last week Tuesday, after the unions issued a 72-hour ultimatum on Friday, November 20, for authorities to address the pressing issues facing the Police Force. That meeting did not go ahead and was postponed to Monday.
The concerns of the union include police officers’ insurance and pensions, as well as ensuring that they receive their “function book” and salary scales, amongst other things.
The union NAPB had said earlier that although the disciplined services currently fall under Social and Health Care Insurances SZV, members “don’t feel protected” by this insurance, particularly when working in the line of duty. The union had contended that with SZV insurance, officers injured in the line of duty were not entitled to any benefits for their loved ones, particularly if they lost their life.
NAPB also had indicated that its members’ frustrations were growing, as they wanted answers and the union was unable to give answers as it was not receiving any information from Government.
Gibson had said during last Wednesday’s Council of Ministers press briefing that while he was aware that the members of the disciplined services were entitled to certain rights and that their needs had not been attended to, addressing the concerns required funds.
“I think that they [disciplined services – Ed.] have a right to get certain payment and promotions, but as they say in Dutch ‘you cannot break iron with your hands’ and this is where the tension lies, but it has to be dealt with,” he had said.
Asked whether he was suggesting that members of the Police Force would have to tighten their belts, Gibson said “everybody” would have to tighten their belts. “There is no exception. … We have to do what we can afford with what we have. … There [will be – Ed.] some things that we can do and some things that we can’t do.”
He said some persons behaved as though the country had “an infinite mountain of resources that you can just come and we can give it to you and you can demand it, but that is not the reality. … If you want to get to the moon you need a rocket, … but you have to have the means to get there. If you don’t have the means, you will have to do without until you can generate the means to get there.
“To a lot of people this may sound like a foreign, strange concept. But it’s a very logical, normal approach to things. You need to have priorities and you need to make choices. If we are going to build more roads, we will have to take the resources away from another corner.
“If we will give Police Force everything they want and need to ensure that we have maximum safety, that will have to come from somewhere else. Do we take it from the schools or other human resources? It’s hard decisions, but you can’t act as if you have all the resources and everybody can get everything.”
