After a long period of negotiating between the UFA Union representatives and the negotiation team of St. Maarten Ports Authority (SMPA), the second performance based Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) was signed on Monday May 18th 2015.
There were various items to discuss which needed input from different individuals; calculations needed to be made to reach to the right formulas and decisions needed to be made from both sides, if the outcome was to be to the satisfaction of the UFA and the SMPA.
This is the second period of performance based CLA which was signed for the period January 2015 till December 2017. The first performance based CLA covered the period of January 2011 till December 2013.
Due to the fact that it took so long, in the meantime the CLA signed until 2013 was still valid until the new CLA was agreed upon.
A performance based CLA means that salary increases of an employee is based on their performance and there is no longer a “mandatory” increase given to the employee.
This performance appraisal system was implemented in 2011 and exists of two official meetings between the manager and the employee of their department. One is called the review interview, which takes place in June every year and the final evaluation is in November of every year.
SMPA is satisfied with the outcome and would like to thank the UFA for their time and patience during the whole negotiation period.