Kooyman St. Maarten B.V. and Algemene Bond voor Overheidspersoneel (ABVO) signed a new collective labor agreement with a 3 year term, starting at January 1st 2014. On July 1st the official signing took place, between Mr. Kenneth Bremer, member of the board ABVO, Mr. Cathalina, local ABVO representative, Herbert van der Woude, CEO of the Kooyman Group and Juri Kooyman, Senior Manager Operations of Kooyman. Shopsteward Lloyd Patterson Bussue signed as a witness on behalf of the employees. All this was done during a festive ceremony at the branch at Brouwers Road, Cay Hill together with the staff of Kooyman St. Maarten. The negotiations were firm and tough at times, but with mutual respect, resulting in an income raise of 1% and 1,5% on top of the current periodicals. In practice this means an average increase of around 10% in 3 years.
‘Our employees on St. Maarten form a loyal team who are very knowledgeable and motivated to maintain a high service level towards our customers. It is important that we give them the best labor conditions possible. With this agreement I believe we have managed to achieve these ambitions’, says Mr. Herbert van der Woude, CEO of Kooyman. ‘The existing labor agreement was already good in comparison with many other companies on the island, including a pension scheme, holiday pay and a Christmas bonus for permanent employees. The new agreement is even better for our employees. Our employees are our most valuable asset and we care about their working conditions, even in today’s difficult market conditions.’
Both Kooyman and ABVO are very content about the fact that a new article concerning training has been added to the labor agreement. Training is from now on a mutual obligation. This means that Kooyman has the obligation to invest in continuous training in the areas of sales and service skills and product knowledge. At the same time the employees are obliged to do their utmost to follow the training offered, to pass the exams successfully and put theory into practice. In addition Kooyman introduced an arrangement giving employees the opportunity to receive a contribution to the costs of volunteer training. If a training or education program meets the company’s criteria, Kooyman will contribute up to 80% of the costs. ‘In today’s society education is a necessity for growth and with this arrangement we strongly encourage our employees to develop themselves continuously in order to achieve their personal ambitions’, Mr. van der Woude concludes.
Kooyman St. Maarten is part of the Kooyman Group, a retailer in building materials, hardware and home improvement with stores on Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St. Maarten. This year the company celebrates 75 years of existence. It has grown in these years to market leadership in the Dutch Caribbean with 6 branches and more than 500 employees. The Kooyman branch on St. Maarten employs about 45 employees.
