WILLEMSTAD - The Pisas government wants a phased reduction of the 12.5 percent salary cut. Otherwise, according to the prime minister, it cannot be paid. This weekend he had the chance to present a proposal to the two other countries, Aruba and Sint Maarten. His hope was to reach an agreement with the Netherlands.
The Netherlands agrees to phasing out the discount, but does set a number of conditions. From a technical point of view, the requirement to legislate on the standardization of top incomes seems to be a stumbling block. This must be published before the cut can be phased out. That is a hard requirement from the Netherlands. But according to Pisas, that process will take a long time and time is precisely the problem.
Curaçao also believes that the abolition should apply to everyone, while the Netherlands wants to focus on an abolition for people with the lowest incomes.
The phased abolition could be completed in two years. The costs are around one hundred million guilders. Curaçao should put almost 32 million guilders on the table in 2023 and 67 million in 2024.
Labor unions
Not only Pisas went to Aruba. The labor unions also went with him. They wanted to protest and also present a letter of objection to State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Alexandra van Huffelen.