General Secretary of the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) Thomas Letang said the union is making preparations to host the annual Caribbean Public Services Association (CPSA) conference in July 2025.
He made the announcement during a recent interview with Dominica News Online (DNO).
The Caribbean Public Services Association is a regional trade union federation of public services trade unions in the Caribbean Founded in 1970, and was previously the Federation of British Caribbean Civil Service Association.
“We have a total of 20 affiliates. This organization has been in existence for over 50 years. We meet on an annual basis and next year, that is July 17, to the 21, Dominica will be hosting the next conference,” he said. “We are expected to see it being attended by a little over 100 delegates and observers.”
Letang explained that the conference is usually broken down into two parts.
“We have the training aspect of the conference which is over two and a half days and during that two and a half days we have three separate workshops,” Letang explained. “We have workshops for the men and workshops for the women and for the young workers.”
He also mentioned that there will be a joint workshop.
“And for the next two and a half days we have the business aspect of the conference where we look at the secretariat report,” Letang revealed.
He said reports will also be presented by the affiliates and the activities that took place during the last time unions met in conference, “ and we share our experiences to some of the problems that we would have encountered throughout the year, how they were dealt with.”
Letang added, “We come up with resolutions to send to the respective governments or stakeholders.”
Delegates will get a chance to visit certain places across Dominica, “get to know the people, learn more about Dominica and Dominicans, and to really share in the culture and habits of Dominicans.”
Letang said he looks forward to a very successful conference.
The featured speaker will be Dr André Vincent Henry from Trinidad & Tobago. He is the Director of the Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies since March 1, 2017,
The 2023 annual conference of the Association took place in Belize and was attended by unions from 13 Caribbean countries.
Mr. letang…..are u searching mr. skerrit pokets for money for this?
I don’t care about that Letang.
When are you giving up this position?
Mr Thomas Letang the public servants in Dominica are suffering. They utilities are being disconnected, many have to forego breakfast and lunch, others have to choose between medicine or food, their children go to sleep on empty stomachs.
These conferences are just window dressing as the lives of the impoverished public servants will not be improved.
Mr. Letting you have to grow a spine and demand much better wages, salaries and working conditions. Raise hell by having industrial action (work stoppage), protests, sit-ins, go slow, and more until the government acquiesce to the union’s demands.
Never be afraid to protest for your rights. Protest is the engine that moves society forward.