Disappointment At Dept. Of Human Services As Only Some Employees Will See Salary Increases In June

ST. CROIX — The Mapp administration blew a trumpet late Sunday announcing that multiple government departments would finally see promised salary increases this week. But it failed to make known that within many of the announced departments, only some employees will see their promised step increases on Thursday.

Government House announced that employees in the Department of Finance, Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, Department of Tourism, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Planning and Natural Resources-Enforcement Officers, Division of Personnel and Virgin Islands Fire Service would see pay raises on Thursday. Late Monday, the administration added the Office of the Inspector General to the list, and estimated that, excluding fringe benefits, employees would see a minimum jump in the pay checks of $4,875 annually.

The administration said the departments of Education and Human Services would be addressed in June, along with the Bureau of Corrections.

However, a source within Human Services, who requested anonymity fearing backlash, said an internal memo circulated within the department revealed that only three out of six units within Human Services would receive raises come June; leaving the other units, both unionized and non-union employees, without their promised increases, and without a timeline determining when and if they would see their pay raises.

Human Services Internal Memo

The memo, called “Government House Press Release Clarification”, seen left or above on mobile devices, says Human Services has six bargaining units, and that out of the six, only three are slated to receive pay raises. The three units set to receive raises, according to the document, include United Steelworkers Masters, Law Enforcement Supervisors’ Union and Seafarers International Correction Officers — all unions representing various employees. The memo added that Seafarers Internal Union, VI Workers Union and the United Steelworkers Supervisors Unions “are not included at this time.”

“It is very disheartening to us,” said the D.H.S. employee. “We work with low income families and haven’t had a raise in more than five years. Those of us who are classified non-union were excited to hear about the raise and then we received the email and it was a great disappointment.”

The administration told The Consortium this afternoon that it was aware of the issue, and that the Division of Personnel would rectify the matter for non-union employees within 60 days following the month of June.

“The way that they’re being handled is their department heads have submitted spreadsheets with their information, and those positions are being funded out of the department,” Cherie Munchez, Mr. Mapp’s new communications director told this publication.

And there are other departments with non-union employees that are being affected by the same situation. However, they too should see their salaries increase in August, according to Ms. Munchez.