Mapp To Start Announcing Increases In Pay For Some Government Employees On Tuesday

ST. THOMAS — In a one-hour exclusive interview with the VI Consortium, Governor Kenneth Mapp revealed that he would announce pay increases to employees of some government departments and agencies on Tuesday, at a press conference to be held at Government House here.

“Tuesday, as part of an announcement, I’m going to announce the beginning of bringing a number of government employees on step pursuant to their contractual agreements, that’s correct,” said Governor Mapp concerning pay increases for government employees. Pressed on whether those employees would be teachers and correctional officers — two departments that are long overdue wage increases — the governor remained ambiguous: “On Tuesday, we will begin the announcement,” he said. “Everyone will not be dealt with on the same day [or] the same month. We have done a complete analysis of all of the departments and agencies and what are the outstanding amounts for each of the unionized workers. And we have non-unionized workers as well, but my financial team has setup a plan, and on Tuesday we’re going to be able to start announcing who are some of the first agencies that will begin to see the changes in their paychecks.”

On December 8, 2015, members of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — literally all public school teachers in the territory — descended on Government House in Christiansted with signs in hands, chanting keywords with significance to their cause: pay raises and better working conditions. AFT’s last negotiated contract with the government was in 2009, but educators have yet to see the full benefits of that contract, which was cut short after former Governor John P. de Jongh implemented the across-the-board 8 percent pay cut.

And the governor said the announcement would not be followed by long waits, either.

“When I make an announcement, I always tell people go to work when I say go do something. So they will do what they have to do and the employees will know when that will take place. There’s a level of paperwork, but I’m not getting ready to announce something that somebody can expect down in September. If I tell you [on] Tuesday that these are the department and agencies we’re going to begin to implement raises on, that means that within one, two or three paydays, you’re going to start seeing [changes].”

If teachers are part of Tuesday’s announcement, the news will help stem the tide of educators leaving the territory for better opportunities elsewhere. In August of last year, the Department of Education revealed that over 70 teachers had either resigned or retired from DOE since June of the same year, according to Nicole Jacobs, head of HR at DOE. Ms. Jacobs also confirmed that the department had been receiving resignations through emails during the week of August 13, 2015 at an alarming rate, as educators were waiting until the last minute to resign.

The governor made the revelation while highlighting some of his administration’s efforts in 2015, and what he considers as better things to come. He said while the ArcLight/GVI agreement was an important one for the territory, his administration would not be marked by that deal; as it will pale in comparison to other projects that have yet to be announced.