Oranjestad- St. Eustatius may soon have 2 new companies who will be unionized, after no less than 2 referendums will take place on the island in a single day. The referendums will be taking place at 9 and 12.30 respectively.

In the first of the two referendums, organized by Government Mediator for the BES-Islands Anselmo Pontilius, employees of Intertek Caleb Brett can vote for representation by All for 1 Union between 9 AM and 11 AM.

In a second referendum, held between 12.30 and 2 PM, employees of Sheriff Security on St. Eustatius can also vote for or against Union representation.

Both referendums will take place at the SZW Meeting room in the Mazinga Complex.

Obligation to negotiate a CLA

In companies where the majority of employees (50% +1) vote for Union representation by means of a referendum, the union will be appointed to represent the workers. This also means the employers in question are also obligated to negotiate a Collective Labor Agreement (CLA) for the employees working at those companies.

Recently, former All for 1 Union leader Charles Woodley returned to All for 1 as interim president, after members of the union had voted to oust Ra Arnaud because of the way he was handling affairs in name of the union.

Referendums in the labor laws of the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles can be used to prove that a particular union represents a majority of the employees at a company. It can also be used in the case where more than one union claims to have backing of the majority of the employees.

The referendum, in cases where more than one union participates, can only have on winner, which subsequently will be representing all the employees at the company, who voted for union representation. Companies where only one union participates can either vote in favor or against union representation.