C-47 wants president to intervene

The Progressive Labor Union Federation 47 (C-47) has reportedly sent a letter to President Desi Bouterse and Finance Minister Gillmore Hoefdraad regarding two separate cases. C-47 has asked the president to keep a close eye on precendents that are being created within the labor unions while Minister Hoefdraad has been asked not to force the intended success of the Surinaamse Postspaarbank (SPSB) down the throats of the people. The government has decided to transfer the salaries of people who work for institutes that are dependent on state subsidy directly to their bank accounts instead of transferring the money to the bank accounts of the institutes. C-47 does not see anything wrong with that but it does deem it extreme for the government to demand that the employees of those institutes must open a bank account at the SPSB. C-47 made it clear that it should not have to be a problem for the government to transfer the salaries to a bank where they already have a bank account. Robby Berenstein, chairman at C-47, made it clear that the government may not force people to open an account at a state bank in order to receive their salaries. “We are starting to warn him,” said Robby Berenstein as he reffered to the letter that was sent to Minister Hoefdraad. In the letter that was sent to the president, C-47 referred to the disciplinary measures against the members of the Teachers’ Association (BvL) and the Alliance for Teachers in Suriname (ALS). C-47 deems the series of disciplinary measures as punishment for teachers who supported the union strikes during the school year 2016-2017. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (OWC) has put the large scale teacher transfer on hold but has not changed it plans to take disciplinary action against union members. Berenstein made it clear that the government “will have to cancel all disciplinary measures.”