PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC- Customs officers who started industrial = action a week ago are expected to escalate their protest action in the face of government’s refusal to talk with their union.
The strike action which has already paralysed Nieuwe Haven, the = country’s main seaport, is being extended to the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport and the country’s second state-owned port in Nickerie.
According to the Customs Officers Union (COU), customs officers recently sent a letter to the government indicating that the Confederation of = Civil Servants Organisations (COL) would act on their behalf in negotiations = with the government, but authorities had so far refused to meet with COL.
They accused government of violating conventions of the International = Labor Organisation (ILO) which clearly stipulated that it was the workers’ = right to appoint who they wanted to represent them.=20
The Confederation said it also sent a letter to the Ministry of Labour regarding the alleged violation of the ILO Convention giving the = authorities a Wednesday ultimatum, but government was yet to respond.
COL official John Telgt told reporters that international organisation = would be informed about the current situation, stating that arguing that ramifications will be for the government.=20
Meanwhile the Governor of the Central Bank of Suriname, Andr=E9 Telting, warned that if the strike action continued for a long time there would = be a shortage of vital foodstuffs, medical supplies and other consumer = products leading to =93artificial price hikes .
=93This means inflation and a decline of purchasing power Telling = said, noting that a down swing of confidence in the Surinamese economy could ensue.
According to Telting the strike might result in a salary hike for the Customs Officers but in the end it was the entire population that would = foot the bill.