Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--Newly elected President of the Windward Islands Civil Servants Union/Private Sector Union (WICSU/PSU) Henrietta Doran-York wants to focus on strengthening the relationship between the union and its membership.
The new board elected Friday will sit for three years. In a press release on Sunday, the new president said the union will be announcing "a special day in the week" where members and prospective members will be able to make appointments to meet with the board at the union's office on the Walter Nisbeth Road (Pondfill).
At these meetings, members will get a chance to voice their concerns. The union also plans to visit the places of work of its membership to "verify claims" made by members to get a better understanding of situations to represent workers. The visits will be done in collaboration with the businesses and other establishments where WICSU/PSU has members.
Doran-York said her plan as new president is to work with members to "tackle and sort out" issues affecting them. She said her past experiences with a "bottom to the top" approach, gives her the ability to listen and obtain a good understanding of the concerns of workers and "take action whenever and wherever necessary."
Outgoing President Dearie Leonard, she added, has been cooperating to provide the new board with the necessary documentation and information.
The union will soon call a general membership meeting for members to get acquainted with the new board and its advisors.
Doran-York said she has been a civil servant for the last 32 years and has been a member of the union since becoming a civil servant in 1983. She had been a shop steward for over 20 years. She stopped being a shop steward after she assumed a management position, but remained a union member. She also served as second Vice President to the union at one point.
Doran-York said she was the first female prison official in St. Maarten; the first female Prison Supervisor in the former Netherlands Antilles and she served as Deputy Director of the Prison; Implementation Manager for the Ministry of Justice for Prison matters; Member of Parliament in the former Netherlands Antilles and was Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary for St. Maarten. She currently works as policy advisor in the Cabinet of Justice Minister Dennis Richardson and is Secretary of the Coast Guard Presidium representing St. Maarten.
The new president said the wellbeing of members was the reason she contested the union election. She congratulated the new WICSU/PSU General Secretary Riegnald Arrindell and Treasurer Francisco Mariana who were also elected on Friday; she thanked members for voting and for placing confidence in her and thanked the outgoing board and the elections committee for their efforts.
Doran-York said she looks forward to a healthy working relationship with Arrindell and Mariana. "Now that the elections are over, let the work continue," she said. "WICSU/PSU has been around for quite a while and it is now time for leadership with an innovative approach in order to cater to the new generation of members that the union has acquired over the recent years and for those prospective members who have already requested membership forms in order to join the union."
