PHILIPSBURG:--- Allegations of unpaid wages involving 22 workers on St Maarten’s new General Hospital project have placed main contractor Finso under renewed scrutiny, adding another dispute to a project whose bidding, contractor stability, payment practices and financial transparency have been questioned for years.
According to information provided to SMN News, 22 workers have filed claims against Global Resourcing B.V., the payroll company reportedly used in the labor arrangements for work performed for Finso.
One petition reviewed by SMN News seeks US$37,660.67 for an individual worker, excluding additional interest and litigation costs. That amount is not the combined claim for all 22 workers.
Although Global Resourcing is the employer and defendant named in that petition, the employment agreement expressly identifies Fincantieri Infrastrutture Sociali S.p.A.—Finso—as the company for which the employee would perform his duties. The petition states that the worker was assigned as a drywaller on the new hospital project.
The allegations therefore raise questions about the main contractor’s oversight of its subcontracting and workforce arrangements, as well as the company payroll’s responsibility to honor its employment agreements.
A 55-hour project schedule against a 40-hour employment agreement
According to information provided to SMN News, Finso’s subcontractor arrangements require workers to work ten-hour weekdays and five hours on Saturdays, totaling a 55-hour workweek. Employees then sign separate labor agreements with the payroll company providing for 40 ordinary hours per week.
The employment contract SMN News reviewed provides a US$2,200 net monthly salary based on 40 hours per week, with ordinary working hours from Monday through Friday. Salary is payable before the end of each month.
The petition alleges that the worker was required to work longer weekdays and Saturdays. His representative argues that those additional hours must be compensated as overtime.
This discrepancy between the alleged project requirements and the written employment terms requires explanation. Who instructed the additional hours? How were they recorded and billed? What arrangements ensured the workers received the corresponding overtime payments?
The actual subcontract between Finso and the relevant subcontractor was not among the documents supplied, so its precise working hours and payment provisions remain to be verified.
One worker seeks more than US$37,000
The petition, dated July 27, 2026, alleges that the worker remained unpaid despite performing work and remaining available for employment.
His claim includes:
- US$17,600 in regular wages, calculated in the petition as eight months’ salary.
- US$1,885.95 in overtime.
- US$1,707.70 for accrued vacation.
- US$5,870.19 in compensation associated with termination and the notice period.
- US$10,596.83 as a claimed statutory increase for delayed payment.
The petition’s stated total is US$37,660.67, with interest and court costs sought separately. These are amounts requested by the court, rather than an award already established by a judgment.
The accompanying overtime summary records 64 weekday overtime hours and 30 Saturday hours. It lists numerous nine- and ten-hour weekdays, several five-hour Saturdays and one ten-hour Saturday.
The worker’s legal representative states that Finso project management signed the underlying daily records. The supplied attachment is a compiled schedule referencing those records.
Workers allegedly stopped work after months without pay
According to the petition, the worker and colleagues suspended their duties on April 7, 2026, after prolonged non-payment, while remaining available to resume once payment was made.
The petition alleges that meal provision stopped on April 22, 2026, and that workers were encouraged to leave St Maarten using tickets arranged by Finso and Global Resourcing.
It further states that settlement discussions produced an offer of only part of the amount claimed, conditional on a full and final settlement.
The worker subsequently terminated his employment with immediate effect on June 18, 2026, citing continuing non-payment and other alleged breaches.
The petition anticipates an argument that wage obligations rested with another company, Technostyle. The worker’s representative rejects that position, maintaining that Global Resourcing signed the employment agreement and undertook to pay the salary.
The legal representative who provided the information said the proceedings had already been heard and alleged that Finso used procedural tactics to delay their progress. No hearing record or court order was supplied to establish the cause of any delay or the current procedural position.
Hospital bidding was questioned long before these claims
The present dispute comes against a history of scrutiny that began well before Finso took over the project.
SMN News’s April 7, 2026 retrospective records VAMED’s challenge to the 2016 procurement process, concerns about INSO’s unusually low pricing, and the subsequent March 2017 settlement between SZV and VAMED.
By September 3, 2017, SMN News reported a US$1 million settlement payment to VAMED while questioning the hospital’s financial arrangements and the lack of a completed facility. The archive establishes that concerns about procurement and public expenditure have followed the project for nearly a decade.
Those earlier disputes do not determine the workers’ present claims. They make the demand for clear records and accountable project oversight particularly pressing.
From INSO’s financial distress to the Finso takeover
In January 2019, SMN News published an update concerning a visit by then-VSA Minister Emil Lee and SMMC representatives to INSO’s offices in Italy after the contractor entered an Extraordinary Administrative Procedure.
The statement explained that the procedure followed financial problems at INSO’s parent company, Condotte d’Acqua, and protected it from creditors. INSO management denied that the company was bankrupt and assured continued operations and project guarantees.
The update discussed the possibility of using the hospital’s main building by the end of 2021, subject to resolving the arrangements then under discussion.
On November 18, 2020, SMN News reported SMMC’s announcement that INSO had been sold to the Fincantieri Group, with a commitment to take over its existing projects, including Sint Maarten’s hospital.
The announcement described establishing a new company under Fincantieri Infrastructure. Finso subsequently assumed the hospital contractor role following INSO’s financial distress and restructuring.
Unpaid contractors complained in 2022
The archive contains an earlier payment dispute directly involving Finso.
On January 10, 2022, SMN News published “New General Hospital Project in limbo,” reporting contractors’ complaints that they had supplied services and materials under agreements with Finso but remained unpaid.
Contractors said they received small payments at the end of December that fell short of what they were owed. The report followed assurances received by then-VSA Minister Omar Ottley that the company would settle its debts before Christmas.
SMMC Supervisory Board Chairman Robert Jan James said he lacked updated information while the project manager was off island. The report also recorded an explanation that difficulties involved transferring funds to Sint Maarten rather than a lack of finances.
The current source similarly alleges that contractors and vendors remain unpaid. Supporting invoices for those present allegations were not supplied. Nevertheless, the 2022 reporting establishes that payment complaints on Finso’s hospital project have surfaced before.
Further labor complaints and questions over increased costs
On May 26, 2026, SMN News separately reported a local employee’s allegations against Finso involving salary discrepancies, deductions, sick-leave administration, and disciplinary treatment.
That report concerns a different employment dispute and does not establish the merits of the 22 workers’ claims. It adds to the record of labor concerns raised in connection with the hospital contractor.
Financial transparency has also remained contentious.
On January 29, 2025, SMN News reported that then-VSA Minister Richinel Brug confirmed increased hospital construction costs but said he could not disclose the details because SMMC had informed him of a non-disclosure agreement with Finso.
Redesign, indexation, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine were identified as reasons for the increase.
Finso, Global Resourcing and SMMC must explain the payment chain
The latest claims warrant a documented account of the arrangements between the main contractor, subcontractors and payroll company.
Finso should explain whether it paid the relevant subcontractor invoices, whether any amounts remain disputed, and how it monitored working hours and payment complaints on its site.
Global Resourcing should explain what wages and overtime were paid, what remains outstanding, and the basis for disputing any portion of the workers’ claims.
SMMC should explain when it became aware of the allegations, what contractual oversight it exercised, and what steps it took to establish whether workers engaged on its hospital project were being paid.
The supplied material contains no judgment determining the present claims, and Finso and Global Resourcing have not responded to them.
For a hospital project already burdened by years of controversy, another round of assurances will not resolve the questions. Contracts, attendance records, invoices, and payment records are needed to establish where responsibility lies—and whether the people building Sint Maarten’s new hospital received the wages they earned.