Daniella Jeffry Comprehensive School: is there a way out of the crisis?
After more than a year of industrial action at Daniella Jeffry Comprehensive School, the technical staff seconded to the school by the Collectivité de Saint-Martin returned to work last week. An internal solution has been reached, but the memorandum of understanding has not yet been signed and an administrative inquiry is still ongoing.
On Wednesday 11 March, outside Daniella Jeffry High School in Marigot, twelve strikers and several representatives from the UNI.T 978 union took to the podium to provide an update on a labour dispute that has lasted over a year. Although grievances and discontent had been voiced well before, it was officially in December 2025 that the picket line truly began, marking the start of a standoff with management. The return to work, effective from 6 March, follows a meeting with the headteacher the previous week. At the heart of the dispute: the working conditions of the technical staff provided to the school by the Collectivité de Saint-Martin, and more specifically the behaviour of a manager accused by the strikers of ‘abuse of power’. Throughout the campaign, the union has been keen to maintain a protest it describes as
“passive”, as the school’s doors were never closed to pupils and teachers.
A mixed response
Whilst the dispute touched on several aspects of working conditions, the strikers primarily singled out their personnel manager as being “at the heart of the tensions”. According to them, numerous issues related to her management style had ultimately made their work impossible. To resolve the dispute, the headteacher proposed last week that a new manager be appointed, an initiative welcomed by the movement. The former manager remains at the school but has been stripped of all authority over these staff members. Work therefore resumed without a signed agreement, but in a spirit of goodwill. This agreement, which is intended to formalise a schedule of actions and address the other points of the dispute — notably the staff shortage — should be signed by next week if a deal is reached. Pending the official signing, however, the strike notice remains in force. “Not everything has been resolved yet, but we want to believe in it,” said one striker. The Vice-Rector’s Office has also been conducting an administrative inquiry since early February, which is still ongoing. Its conclusions will be closely watched, as they could significantly influence the course of further negotiations.
