** Exclusively on SXM Talks, articles by Ralph Cantave **
PHILIPSBURG – The condition to apply the 25% cut in the employment package of Ministers and Members of Parliament (political authorities) isn’t applied to date, despite the agreement made to do so in 2020.
According to sound documents, only a 14.5% reduction was applied to their employment package which consisted of cutting the representation allowance(6%), vehicle allowance (2.5%), and vacation pay (6%). This leaves a remainder of 10.5% which the law on reducing their employment package stated had to be applied to their remuneration (gross salary). The law was supported 14 for and 1 against on February 3, 2021. The Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion was asked about the cut on several occasions and indicated that responses will be provided in writing. However, during the Council of Minister’s press briefing on June 1, 2022, Irion indicated that the cuts were done based on the law, which documents reveal wasn’t the case. Do note that the documents referenced are anonymized.
Facts and Figures
Efforts to reduce the salaries of political authorities were tabled but shot down in previous parliaments. Former elected officials such as Roy Marlin, Tamara Leonard, Wycliffe Smith, and Claude Peterson all advocated for a reduction in the pay grade of political authorities due to the high wage cost. It has also been disputed in the Netherlands given that St. Maarten Members of Parliament make more than their counterparts in the Kingdom. The remuneration package of political authorities was a responsibility of the St. Maarten Island Council prior to 2010 during preparations for ‘country status’ and the amounts were justified by the high cost of living on the island, according to past officials.
Presently, Members of Parliament collect Naf. 19,442.85 excluding allowances. The President of Parliament, Ministers, and the Minister Plenipotentiary receive Naf. 20,368.70. The Prime Minister receives the highest amount of Naf. 21,294.55. Addressing the high salaries of St. Maarten officials served as part of the conditions for post-hurricane Irma liquidity in 2019, however, it was only dealt with due to the further economic onslaught the island faced by Covid-19.
Based on the law, the partial cut was first implemented on April 1, 2020, when salaries of political authorities had to be reduced by 10% by doing the following: reducing representation allowance (6%) and reducing the transportation cost of Naf 500 which represented an average across the board of 2.5%. That adds to 8.5% but the balance of 1.5% which the law stated had to be added to make up the 10% was not cut from their gross salary.
As of July 1, 2020, the condition was changed to increase the cut to 25% which included the elimination of vacation allowances of 6% and an extra salary cut of 9% from the gross salary. However, the documents show that the 1.5% and the additional 9% cut were not implemented.
The struggle to implement pay cuts
Documents covering a period of January 2020 to the first quarter of 2022 clearly indicate the exact gross pay for each month never changed. The inability or unwillingness to fully implement the cut fails to stand in solidarity with the private sector workers who forfeited 20% of their salary- and in some cases more- in order for employers to receive the stimulus from the Dutch-funded St. Maarten Stimulus and Recovery Program (SSRP). As Prime Minister, Silveria Jacobs stated during the May 11, 2022 press briefing, the 25% is a condition that will remain until further notice. On several occasions, Jacobs and Irion stated that they fully complied.
The 25% cut along with seven other conditions, now serves as a present condition for the removal of the 12.5% cut on the employment package of civil servants and semi-public workers. Unions agreed to conditions set by the government for vacation pay in good faith that the government upholds the eight conditions to remove the 12.5% yet the government did not fully execute their cut.
It leaves to question how much funds were not collected due to the refusal to fully implement the cut? Also, how will this affect ongoing negotiations with the Dutch State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen and the Kingdom Council of Ministers? Was the CFT, which supervises the island’s finances and will serve as the evaluation body on the eight conditions also made aware? And given that van Huffelen has reiterated the need for reforms, was this known to the Netherlands and used as a tool to maintain conditions as well?
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