Started by a problem of premises for the territorial police, the discontent spread to the agents of the COM, accompanied by UNI.T 978.
The wing of the Hôtel de la Collectivité, which had been destroyed by Irma, had been allocated since 1986 to the territorial police. Since the passage of the cyclone, and pending the reconstruction of its offices, it has been housed near the Nina Duverly school, next to the CTOS. A room deemed unsanitary by the agents because of "strong sewage odors" and in which they have very little equipment.
Once the restoration was completed, the territorial police were surprised to discover that the wing in question was finally assigned to the Director General of Services of the COM, Christiane Ayache, and her team. It was the last straw that broke the camel's back. "We had already had a strike notice in the making for some time," explains Albert Blake, general secretary of the UNI.T 978 union at the origin of the protest movement which has been growing since the end of June.
Angry, the COM agents began by putting up posters on the desk of the DGS, on which they wrote: “STOP clientelism and segregation”. They reproach Christiane Ayache for having recruited "only subways, which mainly come from the prefecture, which do not mix with other agents" and which they consider incompetent. They also have the impression of two-speed management. They protest against "the deplorable working conditions since 2017 of the agents of the territorial police" and the advantages of the new recruits in the team of the DGS. Following the refusal, the president of the COM finally grants them the right to return to their premises in the restored wing. But when the keys were finally handed over to them on June 30, they discovered the premises that were completely empty. What they interpret as a lack of respect towards them. They then decide to file a strike notice on July 2, which will take effect on the 5, in which they list 30 demands. Point number 1 is unambiguously “the URGENT departure of the DGS and its team”.
The president of the COM has replied by mail to part of their demands but the strikers consider the answers to be approximate. Daniel Gibbs has received a delegation several times, but the presence of the DGS at these meetings has put off the strikers who have been blocking the entrance to the COM since July 12.
In a press release dated July 13, the President of the COM explains having received a delegation "in order to provide answers to the legitimate concerns of employees for which the President and the general management of services intended to provide concrete answers". He also affirmed: "the Director-General, her directorates, heads of services and agents constitute a fully integrated team of people invested at all times, for Saint-Martin". It is for him "out of the question that the debate can be reduced to problems of people".
Thursday, July 15, the strikers were still blocking the entrance to the COM and the territorial council scheduled for 9 am had to be deported to another place.
(More details on www.soualigapost.com)
10,468 total views
No comments