ORANGESTAD, St. Eustatius – representatives of the local government, the Chamber of Commerce and those of employers and employees met to discuss the establishment of a ‘Central Dialogue Statia’. All parties share the interest of such a consultation table and would like to participate in it. With the establishment of a protocol, the Central Dialogue Statia is now a fact.
The stakeholders agree that a good Central Dialogue can contribute to strengthen the public support (consensus building) for a socio-economic development of St. Eustatius that benefits all inhabitants, businesses and institutions.
The Central Dialogue operates regardless of the composition of the island government and is separate from the (temporary) Community Advisory Board, which has a legal status. The seats in the Central Dialogue are divided among the Public Entity, employers’ organization STEBA, trade union All for One, trade union WICSU and the Chamber of Commerce. The local representative of RCN unit SZW participates as an advisor.
The Central Dialogue thus offers a form of structured consultation between the local government and representatives of employers and employees. The Central Dialogue will focus particularly on socio-economic themes that play a role on the scale of the island. All parties involved can propose topics for the Central Dialogue that are related to them. In addition, the Central Dialogue will be able to provide requested advice to the national government. This will be the case, for example, when draft legislative proposals are submitted for consultation.
Following the inaugural meeting, the Central Dialogue Statia already had a first substantive meeting, during which requests for advice from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment about the leave system, legislation for the disabled employee and a proposal for a new Working Conditions Act for the Caribbean Netherlands were discussed. The next meeting of Central Dialogue Statia will take place on April 8th , 2020.
