Dominica

In October 2019, five public servants stormed the offices of their union worried about possible victimisation due to their political affiliation.

The general secretary of the Dominica Public Service Union, Thomas Letang, noted that this is a worrying trend. In an interview he claimed that public officers were afraid of participating in activities called by the union.

His comments come on the heels of statements by opposition leader Lennox Linton, who said public officers who may be victimised for standing up against corruption will be reinstated.

Letang strongly believes that public officers are free to attend rallies; however, they must avoid going on platforms to make political statements.

“You are free to attend any rally,” Letang stated. “That is your right as the citizen of the country.”

To address this issue, Letang said educating the public officers is key. “We have to keep on educating them, we have to get to the workplaces, we have to meet them on a one-on-one and talk to them, we have to have workshops so we can explain to them what their rights are, go in detail on the section of the constitution that deals with the rights of citizens, freedom of expression….” he urged.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit described protest action by workers of Dominican Air and Seaport Authority (DASPA) as illegal and selfish. The workers took strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action on Friday morning in relation to salary negotiations.

The general secretary of the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU), Thomas Letang, said enough emphasis is not being placed on salary negotiations with the port workers. He stated that negotiations for 2014 to 2016 should have been concluded already and they should now be engaged in negotiations for 2017 to 2019, adding that the workers are interested in settling the matter in the shortest possible time.

In an address to the nation, Skerrit said the government or DASPA would not negotiate “with a gun to its head” with the workers, while they were on “illegal industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. ”. However, later in the month, the workers returned to work and DASPA met with their representatives.