~ Dupersoy: Union being childish, bully, to discredit him ~
POND ISLAND–St. Maarten Communications Union (SMCU) has accused TelEm Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kendall Dupersoy of changing the pension scheme and medical coverage for workers without reaching and signing an agreement with the union.
In an invited comment, Dupersoy accused the union of being childish, using bullying tactics and trying to discredit him.
SMCU President Ludson Evers said on Thursday that the CEO had changed the pension scheme for workers from an average pay system (definite benefit) to a definite contribution system.
“This change was made without management and the union signing a protocol where parties agree with the change in the pension scheme,” Evers said, adding that the collective labour agreement (CLA) with management is clear about this issue.
He said the union had attempted in vain to “reason with the CEO” for parties to reach an agreement before changes were made. “This situation with the pension scheme is currently on its way to court and any damage the CEO causes employees will be at the cost of the company,” Evers made clear.
In response, Dupersoy said the union is omitting information and being unprofessional and unfair. He said the pension provider had informed the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in mid-2017 that to maintain the definite benefit pension, employees would have to pay additional premium. In most cases the amounts were in the thousands.
“Is the union indicating that this burden is acceptable to the employees? I remind everyone that September 6, 2017, we had a major hurricane that affected everyone.
“Management on several occasions attempted to get approval from the union, but the union refused, insisting we stick with an option that would negatively affect their members. Management held several information sessions to inform employees and union.
“Management was strapped for time and could not wait for the union to eventually make a decision. The employees were given the options and they made their choice. It was not a smooth transition, but it was the best way to handle this important issue,” Dupersoy explained.
“The issue is closed. The employees have made their decision. Taking this to court is the right of the union and the court will decide.”
According to Evers, Dupersoy also changed the company under which workers received medical coverage from Ennia to NAGICO. Evers said that while the company under which workers are covered is not a major issue, the union understood that the coverage that workers are now receiving under NAGICO is less than what they were receiving under Ennia.
“Again SMCU attempted to reason with the CEO and failed to get him to cooperate. The CEO is of the opinion that SMCU should not receive the two policies to compare them and analyse the areas where the medical coverage … went backwards,” Evers contended. “In the meantime, the medical coverage for employees went backwards while employees remained paying the same amount in premium for less medical coverage.
“The dependents of employees are also no longer part of the medical policy, but yet the premium for employees did not change while the premium for the company will reduce. SMCU will also take this matter to court, because once the employees are a paying participant in the medical policy, the employees have a right to have a say in the policy,” Evers said.
In response to this, Dupersoy said the medical policy had been re-evaluated based on the advice of the union.
“They constantly complained about the coverage and had specific requests. In the negotiation with several insurance companies, management specifically requested the issues the union brought forward. Now they are taking the company to court?
“The medical coverage did not go backward. In negotiating with the insurance providers, the company hired the assistance of experts in the field. These experts advised us on the best coverage for the employees,” he said.
Dupersoy said one of the few truthful statements from the union was that he had refused to allow the union to compare policies.
“When did the union become experts in medical policy coverage? Giving the union both policies will simply frustrate the process, as they are not qualified to make an informed decision. The union will be given the policy that the experts advise, for comment as in the norm.
“To show the lack of understanding of policies in the union leadership, they don’t even understand the concept of a group policy. In a group policy all participants pay the same amount whether you have one child or five children. This concept seems to escape the union.
“The sad part of this entire episode is the fact that when the union approached me on the perceived deficiencies of the current policy, I requested the Human Resources manager to look into the situation to address their concerns. We looked into what the premium would be if we added the specific requests of the union. Yet they feel that they should take us to court to spend money on lawyers.
“These funds could be put to better use to the benefit of their members instead of spending on lawyers,” Dupersoy noted.
The union also alleged that TelEm had signed off on a major project without going through a bidding process. The union said that while the allegation was serious, it did not know whether it was true or not.
Dupersoy said this issue is not a union-related issue and only internal company information. He said all required steps had been taken for this project. According to him, the servers in the organisation are very old – some of them as much as seven years, and they can no longer handle the capacity of the programmes.
“The funds were used to purchase new servers for the next five years with possibility to upgrade. The old servers could crash at any time and TelEm would not be able to continue to operate. As CEO I bear responsibility for the continuing operations of the company. It was a critical situation,” he stressed.
“The union would do well to better represent their members and stop spreading rumours in an attempt to bully the CEO. The union has several documents in their possession that need to be commented on and they have yet to comment, which is frustrating the progress of the company. The union should spend more time doing what unions are supposed to do – represent their members – and stop spreading rumours and lies to try to discredit the CEO in an attempt to satisfy personal agendas.
“Their actions are childish and show a total disregard for their members.
“Since the CEO has been appointed, I have done everything in my power to treat the workers in a fair manner. All my interactions with staff and union have been transparent. This is not enough for SMCU; you have to bend over and do their bidding to satisfy them.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84738-smcu-accuses-telem-ceo-of-making-changes-without-agreement-with-union
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