Disgruntled St. Johnian, Wanting Answers On Salary Increases and Retroactive Pay, Allegedly Loses Cool On Senator

ST. JOHN — At-Large Senator Brian Smith, above, in a release issued on Monday, said he was verbally abused by a disgruntled St. John man, who wanted answers on questions relative to salary increases, as well as retroactive payments owed to government employees.

According to Mr. Smith, while on a ferryboat trip to Cruz Bay, St. John from Red Hook, St. Thomas, the man, a firefighter who Mr. Smith did not identify, hurled profanities at the senator for about 20 minutes, because Mr. Smith told the firefighter that he should schedule an appointment with his office to have a discussion on the matter.

Mr. Smith, who said the ferryboat was filled with tourists, added that the firefighter was insulted by the senator’s response asking him to setup an appointment. Mr. Smith said the tourists appeared to be alarmed by the man’s conduct, and although he told the man to stop cursing and yelling, he refused.

The firefighter, according to Mr. Smith, appeared to have been intoxicated. He said the firefighter also warned that if Mr. Smith were to report the incident to St. John Fire Chief Ernest Matthias, he would go “vigilante” in St. John. Mr. Smith said he looked away from the man in an attempt to prevent a physical altercation.

Mr. Smith did not say whether he attempted to answer at least a portion of the resident’s question, or whether he attempted to have a conversation but because the man was being unreasonable, was unable to.

Retroactive pay has been a hot-button issue for years. In July of 2015, it was revealed by the Office of Collective Bargaining during a Committee on Finance budget hearing at the Frits E. Lawaetz Conference Room in Frederiksted, that the Government of the Virgin Islands owed over $300 million in retroactive pay to its employees.

The $300 million included contracts that O.C.B. negotiated with local labor unions in 2010, where a plan to raise government employees’ salaries as a way to pay the retroactive money was agreed upon — although it was never implemented, according to then-Chief Negotiator Valdemar A. Hill, Jr.

The Mapp administration has been attempting to forge deals with local unions on the issue of retro pay, with some agreeing to deals that would see them foregoing the retroactive money in lieu of immediate salary increases. Some unions have yet to come to terms with the government, leaving the government employees that they represent in limbo and, in the case of the firefighter, disgruntled.