SGTK campaigns for collective labor agreement

WILLEMSTAD — Emotions were running high after lunch during the strike by members of trade union SGTK. Protesting strikers started to block off the road at Post V, the main entrance of the Isla, and in Pietermaai. The police was urgently requested to intervene and smooth the strikers’ ruffled feathers.

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The members, who are associated with the contractor association AAV and working on the Isla-terrain, went on strike this morning. They refuse to continue their work as long as the AVV has not signed the umbrella-collective labor agreement which the trade union and the association had finished negotiating.

The most important reason not to sign the agreement is the fact that the AVV demands guarantees from the Isla-refinery as well as the local government regarding the rules for the contractor sector and protection against illegal practices in the sector. These guarantees are mentioned in the two protocols (one with the government and one with the Isla), whereby the AAV demands that the parties sign these, prior to signing the collective labor agreement. SGTK-Chairman Alcides Cova confirmed this morning, that the signing of this protocol is the most important obstacle for the collective labor agreement.
For the second time, the SGTK-members were tackling a new umbrella-cao $during a general member meeting late yesterday afternoon. After the cao had previously been rejected on three points in August, the members nevertheless decided to agree with these. However, they demanded that the cao be signed as soon as possible, according to Cova. "We have been tackling this cao for more than two years. The members are tired of waiting. We cannot continue to wait, and oppose the cao being unlinked from the protocol. We request the AAV to sign the cao now and promise them to support them in their battle in obtaining the guarantees which they support."
The SGTK-members gathered at the Isla-entrance at Post V early this morning, but refused to work. During the morning hours, a discussion took place at the Bureau of the Island mediator (BEB) between the various parties in order to come up with a solution for the conflict. Cova expressed the hope that the cao would still be signed .