In the last three days, in the sector consultation of the Dutch Caribbean, intensive negotiations on the terms of the officials in the Dutch Caribbean took place, also known as the CLA (Collective Labor Agreement) negotiations.
Sybren van Dam, Director of Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland, presided/chaired the consultations on behalf of the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Four unions participate in the consultation, namely ABVO, the NAPB, the Straf/ACOM/ACP and the Wicsu.
The most important part of efforts by the employer was an introduction of a new uniform salary structure for all officials in the Dutch Caribbean, including the teaching staff. At this moment there are four very different salary systems within the RCN. Also, each public entity and the sector of education have their own salary structure. The combination of all these salary scales into a new system is a highly complex matter.
It was not possible to complete the consultations thereon within these few days. The employer has indicated its strong commitment to ending the various rewards for functions which, according to the job evaluation systems, are equal. In addition, the employer made proposals regarding the improvement of facilities in cases of work accidents. Besides, the employer proposes to take a number of incentives to – if no employees can be found on the islands – recruit people elsewhere with a link to the Dutch Caribbean. The commitment letters of the unions, containing among others wishes regarding indexing, holiday pay, Christmas bonus, but also standardization of salaries, were discussed in a first exploratory round.
No conclusions were drawn. It has been agreed to meet again in the short term to see whether a shared understanding of the standardization of salaries and a package of employment measures can be reached.