PHILIPSBURG--Six members of the Immigration and Border Protection Services have won their appeals last week against their remuneration after they were retroactively promoted to team leaders within this organisation.

 

Over a year after they were interviewed in connection with their applications and were found suitable for the function of Immigration Officers at Princess Juliana International Airport SXM, they received their appointment decrees in this position from the Governor of St. Maarten.

 

Only after reading these National Decrees it emerged that some changes were made by the Ministry of Justice, which would have a negative effect on, amongst other matters, their remuneration.

 

All six were extraordinary police officers, but after a covenant was closed between the Police Force of St. Maarten and the Immigration and Border Protection Services, the Immigration Officers were transferred to this new organisation as per November 1, 2012.

 

It also appeared they were no longer falling under the police remuneration scales, but placed in lower remuneration scales for civil servants. Besides, there was a disparity with other immigration team leaders, who were still falling under the police regulations. These were placed in higher scales and paid accordingly, while their new colleagues were not. Therefore, appellants claimed they could not be considered promoted in the sense of the applicable laws.

 

Through the intervention of their labour union, attempts were made to have the decrees reversed, but these proved unsuccessful.

 

The union and officers Sharon Sherwood, Ingrid Salomon, Rignald Gressman, Ryan Peterson, Gregory Augusta and Brunella Bandin engaged the services of attorney-at-law Cindy Marica-Henderson of Mariflex Attorneys to represent them in this matter.

 

An appeal entailing a request to nullify their respective decrees was filed, but the Court of First Instance in January 2015 was of the opinion that the Immigration officers had applied for these jobs themselves, and should have requested information about their labour conditions.

 

The Court furthermore stated that the fact that these officers were previously placed in and compensated by stipulations in the police salary scales was irrelevant and the appeal was therefore dismissed.

 

Their lawyer filed for appeal against this decision at the Council of Appeals in Civil Servant Cases, which was heard in January 2016. During the hearing, union representative Inspector Lyndon Lewis explained to the Council what the proper procedure is for promotions and in which scales Immigration Officers should be placed based on the applicable regulations.

 

In its decision of March 4, the Council said it agreed with the attorney and the union representative that the decision of the Minister of Justice was not taken in accordance with the principles of good governance and was in conflict with the National Ordinance regulating the position of police officers.

 

The new organisation in which the Immigration Officers were placed does not yet have an approved function-and-position system in place. The Council, therefore, nullified the decision of the Court of First Instance and honoured the Immigration Officers’ appeal.

 

The Council suggested the Minister of Justice to promote the Immigration Officers with due consideration of the applicable laws and ordinances.

 

“This decision (positively) affects the colleagues of the Immigration Officers, who were wondering what would happen with their positions,” attorney Marica said Sunday.

 

Union representative Lewis is confident that current Minister of Justice Edson Kirindongo will cooperate with them to resolve these matters further in an amicable manner.

 

Marica said the officers also want to resolve this matter as soon as possible and will cooperate as much as possible. “They are very pleased and feel relieved with the judgment after they have been left in uncertainty over the past two years,” their lawyer said. Country St. Maarten was ordered to pay the legal cost of the six appellants’ proceedings, which was set at US $2.346.

 

The Daily Herald