Letang pleads for greater participation

Thomas Letang, General Secretary of the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) told delegates at the union’s 3rd Biennial Delegates Conference on Thursday that the challenges facing the DPSU in representing the interest of public officers should not be left entirely to the union’s executive. In an impassioned plea, Letang appealed to members to recommit themselves to the business of the union. “You have to get onboard to help steer this vessel,” he said. “Your union is that vessel. Be counted, get onboard and let us face the challenges together.”

With a current membership of 2,500, the DPSU is the largest union in Dominica. Yet the apparent no show, lack-luster support and silence on a number of union outings, initiatives and issues by a significant number of employees is a matter for grave concern for the DPSU. The situation has led to widespread speculation that public officers are afraid to stand in solidarity with their union for fear of being victimized. DPSU officials however, are challenging their members to take a stand. The General Secretary warned that the silence and wait-and-see attitude displayed by some public officers was plying into the hands of those who did not have the best interests of public sector workers at heart. “The lack of mobilization and effective participation in the union can only work to our disadvantage but to the advantage of those whose actions and decisions may not always be in our favour as a nation.” He further stated that the revival and sustainability of the Dominican economy cannot be achieved in an “environment of apparent silence or of the wait-and-see attitude so evidently displayed by many including public sector workers.

Although the delegates pledged their fervent support to the union, we may yet have to wait over the ensuing months to see whether Letang’s appeal for greater participation from the rank and file of the union will actually be heeded. As the union enters into a new round of salary negotiations with the government and seeks to resolve many of their outstanding issues arising out of the last three years, the DPSU will no doubt want the full weight of it’s membership behind it