WILLEMSTAD – The local employees of the Curaçao Dock Company (CDM) should wait until the company is stable again and operating well before they can receive the second half of the negotiated arrears of 1.75 million guilders.
This is according to the CDM Director, Getmar Caldera.
“Currently there is nothing to get at the company. There is simply no money,” said Caldera. The discussion about this payment has started again after the government and the CDM had agreed to pay 15 million guilders to the three exploited Cubans.
The Cubans filed a lawsuit against the CDM in the U.S. and won. The court ordered the CDM to pay the Cubans 80 million dollars. The Cubans tried to force CDM to pay by seizing accounts of clients’ ships when entering US territorial waters.
Caldera admits that the claim of the 350 exploited local staff that were fired 20 years ago and then rehired through so called employment agencies against much worse conditions and to continue working for CDM for years, is completely different.
These local employees could not exert pressure, not even by striking, lest they be fired. “But the claim of the Cubans would bankrupt the company and all the workers would also lose their jobs,” said Caldera.
The employees can now see the positive developments in the company and simply wait for their payment.
Bron: Curacahronicle