Can WIFOL Rebuild Trust After Questions Over Its Leadership and Accountability?

One of St. Maarten’s oldest labour organisations is heading toward what could be a defining moment.

WIFOL President Theophilus Thompson says the union is being restructured and that a Congress is planned for October, where members are expected to decide who will lead the organisation going forward.

The announcement comes after months of public allegations from WIFOL co-founder René Richardson and other members, who have questioned whether the union has held the meetings, Board elections and financial reporting required under its own rules.

Thompson rejects those claims.

Speaking to The Daily Herald, he described allegations surrounding his leadership and the use of rental income from the WIFOL building as false, saying the organisation has changed considerably since Hurricane Irma and is now focused on rebuilding.

The dispute became public earlier this summer when a group of WIFOL members accused Thompson of remaining president without a valid electoral mandate and said the union had gone more than ten years without a Congress. In July, members announced that they intended to move forward with convening a Congress themselves, while an August notice from WIFOL invited expressions of interest from persons interested in becoming the union’s next leader.

That makes Thompson’s announcement of an October Congress particularly significant.

He says approximately 50 workers are now receiving weekly training at the WIFOL building, including instruction from legal professionals and persons involved in trade unionism and international labour rights.

The goal, according to Thompson, is to prepare a new generation of workers for leadership roles.

He argues that WIFOL should not be viewed as an organisation centred around one person, and says the Congress will determine the executive leadership positions of president, general secretary and treasurer.

Thompson also says he is willing to remain president if workers give him another mandate.

He maintains that he has repeatedly been elected since first becoming president in 1983, with the last election taking place in 2014. An official Sint Maarten government gazette from that year lists Thompson as WIFOL’s representative on the Social Economic Council for the 2014-to-2017 term, confirming his formal role in the labour movement at that time, although that record does not by itself establish when WIFOL’s internal elections were held.

Thompson says Hurricane Irma disrupted the organisation significantly.

Companies closed, workers lost jobs, membership contributions declined and the WIFOL building itself had to be rebuilt.

He says rental income from the building is therefore being used to help compensate for lost membership revenue and maintain the facility.

According to Thompson, WIFOL currently represents about 1,500 members and remains active in defending workers.

He says the union has handled approximately four court cases against employers this year alone, including a recent case in which security workers reportedly received a favourable ruling requiring compensation dating back to their dismissal.

But the broader issue now goes beyond Thompson and Richardson.

It is about governance inside institutions that are themselves responsible for demanding accountability from employers and government.

Trade unions derive their strength not only from advocacy, but from the confidence of their membership.

That means elections, financial transparency, functioning Boards and clear internal procedures matter.

At the same time, unions across the Caribbean are facing a changing labour market shaped by automation, new industries, temporary contracts, migration and declining participation in traditional organised labour.

For WIFOL, October could therefore become more than an election.

It could be an opportunity to demonstrate whether one of St. Maarten’s longest-standing labour organisations can modernise its leadership, rebuild confidence among members and prepare a new generation to defend workers in a changing economy.

Thompson says the organisation is restructuring.

His critics say accountability is overdue.

The Congress now expected in October may be where those two narratives finally meet.

And ultimately, it will be WIFOL’s members who decide what comes next.