Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg is calling for the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Labor to investigate Innovative Communication Corp.’s recent layoff of 18 employees.
In letters to Attorney General Iver Stridiron and Labor Commissioner Sonia Jacobs Dow, Donastorg said requests last year to the two administration officials to investigate ICC’s labor practices went unanswered. In light of last week’s layoffs, Donastorg said it was again time to look into ICC.
The company owns the V.I. Telephone Corp., Vitelcellular, Vitelcom, the Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Thomas-St. John Cable TV, St. Croix Cable TV, ICC TV and V.I. Powernet. ICC employs approximately 660 people. Vitelco is also a major Industrial Development Commission tax beneficiary.
"I believe the recent layoffs could be in violation of both the Virgin Islands labor laws and this organization’s Industrial Development Commission agreement, which sets specific conditions on employment practices," Donastorg wrote to Stridiron.
Donastorg said that ICC must be "closely scrutinized" because of its tax benefits and because employees from Vitelco subsidiaries reportedly have been transferred to the Vitelco payroll to meet IDC requirements.
"These lateral transfers are clearly an attempt to take advantage of Vitelco’s excruciatingly generous tax breaks and force telephone ratepayers to subsidize ICC’s other enterprises," Donastorg said.
Donastorg told Dow that the recent layoffs were "handled in a matter that, if not illegal, was certainly insensitive." He said one employee was fired after 28 years of service and another was terminated by mail while on maternity leave.
Because of the layoffs, Donastorg requested that Dow send him a recently completed report on ICC’s labor practices.
ICC officials attributed the layoffs to the "drastic downturn" in the Virgin Islands’ economy and a year-long consolidation process. The laid-off workers had held management positions in the various ICC companies. The most, 12, were laid off from Vitelco. Another four were from VitelCellular and one each was from Vitelcom and the cable operations.
