MARIGOT–The Collectivité and Caisse Territorial des Oeuvres Scolaire (CTOS) have managed to reach an end-of-conflict agreement with representatives of the UTC-UGTG union, the Collectivité disclosed in a release.
Regarding the situation of former 16 CTOS employees – the union’s main grievance–, the parties agreed on accompanying the persons concerned toward stable employment.
It was agreed that a meeting would be held within the next two months to study their situation on a case-by-case basis. In parallel with this professional reclassification work, the parties have undertaken to regularize, if necessary, the salaries of former staff members over the period from September 2018 to January 2019.
The Collectivité and the CTOS have assumed responsibility to strengthen the supervision of children within the framework of extracurricular activities, in particular through the cooperation of associations, and to inform the union of the project to organise extracurricular activities for the future.
The days not worked in February, March and part of April were deducted from the strikers’ wages, in accordance with the law. Following the end of the conflict, the parties agreed to discuss the terms of payment of the remaining days until May 17, the end date of the strike.
As a reminder, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had already been signed on March 20, in which the Collectivité started to respond favourably to points relating to the law governing civil servants (career development, compensation scheme).
The President of the Collectivité and his team are satisfied with the end of the strike, allowing a return to normal public service. This social conflict has shown the limits and weaknesses of an administrative organisation that had “run out of steam,” legitimising the ambitious and unprecedented re-organisation project that this majority has undertaken, the release concluded.
Secretary of the UTC-UGTG union Nicole Javois confirmed to The Daily Herald the strike is over, reiterating the agreements mentioned above. But she cautioned the union had not given in on the main sticking point (point one), during negotiations; the situation of the 16 workers.
“We are still in the same position on that point but we will review the situation in two months,” she said. “There were four points left that we had to come to agreement on. Regarding the after-school activities, by September there will be a new organization running that service. We made a declaration that the workers affiliated to us (union) will not be taking part in that service as they have enough to do. Kindergarten should have 10 children maximum per supervisor and primary school 14 per supervisor.
“Everything that happened during the strike was based on our union defending the workers and also those not on strike in categories A, B, and C. I want to thank all the workers and the population for supporting us during the past three and a half months. An end-of-conflict protocol has been signed but there is still a lot of work to do. For example, on our last point personal cases (retirement, renewed contracts, etcetera) still have to be followed up.”
Javois commended the Collectivité for its cooperation. “Prior to the meeting President Gibbs had said he would not be discussing point one (16 workers) and would only receive six union representatives. But on the day, we were 10 and we discussed everything. I have to say it was a very cordial meeting, very cooperative on all sides and led to a successful outcome.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/87631-union-collectivite-ctos-sign-protocol-to-end-strike
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