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~ Kuiperi says sale not finalised ~

PHILIPSBURG--Several Checkmate Security Services officers have expressed concern about a number of issues related to their employment, including the rumoured sale of the company, their accumulated years of service and the late payment of salaries.

Checkmate official Michael Kuiperi said in an invited comment that the company had not been sold, but was in an "advanced negotiation stage" with an American group and a local group. Both, he said, are showing much interest in purchasing the shares of the company.

The name of at least one prominent local businesswoman had been circulating in the community as the potential buyer of the establishment, but Kuiperi said that while he too had heard the name linked to the sale, it was not true.

The non-unionised workers contacted The Daily Herald, saying they had heard that the company had been sold, but they were not privy to any information and were not being told anything by management. Workers were particularly concerned about their accumulated years of service under any potential new owner.

Kuiperi assured that all of the workers' benefits, years of service, etc., "will remain in full effect" in the sales agreement being negotiated.

The workers said they had been seeing new faces at certain locations, a new manager was in place and new vehicles had been brought in. Some workers had been introduced to an individual (name provided) and had been told that person was their new manager and owner, and Kuiperi was no longer the boss.

The workers said they had been told they should speak to the new manager/owner if they had any issues with the company, and not to Kuiperi. They also were irked that there is no Human Resource department/representative in the company to whom they could take their grievances.

In response to this, Kuiperi said workers were being advised to contact his assistant with their issues because he is on his annual vacation leave until mid-October. "As far as I know I am still the owner and managing director of the company. This same melee was circulating already a couple of years ago and at that time a European group was mentioned," he said.

Varying compensation

One serious concern raised by the workers was that they were being compensated differently depending on whether they were locals or immigrants. It also was alleged that the local workers were being paid salaries, as well as overtime and other benefits, while the immigrant workers in the company were being paid one flat salary of NAf. 8.33 per hour and no overtime.

One particular worker said they had been with the company for almost a decade and, out of loyalty to Checkmate, did not want to leave because of these issues.

Kuiperi assured that Checkmate did not discriminate between its local and immigrant workers.

"Obviously you will find differences in salaries between workers, but this has to do strictly with the position and location they are working. We have immigrant supervisors making more than local supervisors, but this is because of years of service and responsibilities assigned to them.

"On the other hand we have local security officers making more than immigrants and this is obviously for the same reasons mentioned above. We also have a limited group of security officers working seasonal with us and their salary is depending on the hours they work," Kuiperi explained.

"Our country's tourism season differs a lot between high and low season and we cannot afford to keep all the staff during the off season. Unfortunately both the airport and harbour activities are fluctuating simultaneously and, as you know, during the high season we don't have enough security officers and on the other hand during the off season we do not have enough work for them.

"Not to terminate anyone in the off season we are accommodating them with less hours and hence sharing the pie among all. This is clearly stated in their labour agreement."

Late pay

The workers also complained about being paid "late." The workers who spoke to this newspaper have received their last salaries on different dates – some on the fifth, some on the sixth and some on the seventh. Workers say being paid late subjects them to late fees in their contractual agreements, which require them to pay their bills before a certain time of the month.

Another worker complained that their money frequently was "short," forcing the employee to have to visit the office constantly to rectify this. This worker said a flat salary was paid during the high season and the worker took home US $500-600 per month during the low season.

The worker said too that they did not receive any benefits, were not entitled to lunch after a certain period and those who worked at locations such as Princess Juliana International Airport, for example, were not given a ride home after late hours.

"The workers can't deal with this anymore and we can't go to the Labour Office because they don't help you," a worker said.

Regarding these issues, the Checkmate official said that to facilitate employees, the security firm was paying them via bank transfer so they would not have to stand in line to cash their cheques.

"Indeed, this month we had a slight delay with the employees collecting via WIB. This delay was because our transfer request from FirstCaribbean Bank went to our account at RBC and had to be returned and re-forwarded to WIB. This error, which was not our fault, caused an additional four days delay only to those collecting at WIB," Kuiperi explained.

"The shortage in some salaries is quite possible, since we have a system in place to check arrival and leaving of our officers by means of radio communication and if an officer fails to call on or off duty our dispatch is not able to book the correct amount of hours. We have always corrected these mistakes in the past and will continue to do so.

"Our management team has an open door policy for our workers and they are perfectly aware that they can visit our offices twice a week to voice their concern," he said.

Unprofessional

One worker said that training was needed for the company's dispatchers who had the tendency to speak to the security officer in a rude and unprofessional manner.

The workers said they were not unionised and they believed they were more exposed to more exploitation as a result of this.

Checkmate has approximately 300 staffers.

Kuiperi promised to release information on the sale once this has been finalised.