Stock Farm, May 7, 2021–  On May 7, 2021, the college administration and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development met with the Public Service Union (PSU) to further discuss matters raised in a letter to the college President relating to salaries owed to members and other grievances. The PSU was represented by their General Secretary, Mr. Thomas Letang, and members of the PSU from the Dominica State College (DSC) faculty.

Dr. Donald Peters, President of DSC, reminded employees that the College’s infrastructure, which Hurricane Maria severely destroyed, was scheduled to be repaired as contracts of USD 3 million had already been signed with the PRC. They will repair the technical buildings. He further reminded the gathering that the Ministry of Education had contracted a construction company to repair the remainder of the buildings. The Union wanted to know why it was taking so long. Dr. Peters reminded the meeting that Covid-19 had impacted the repair schedule. The Chinese, for instance, could not travel.

Regarding payment of salary increases negotiated in various agreements with the Government of Dominica by the PSU, Dr. Peters acknowledged that those were still outstanding and reminded the gathering that the Government of Dominica had continued to pay salaries uninterrupted during schools lockdowns following hurricane Maria and during Covid-19, so while he appreciated the staff patience and their frustrations, he believed that the Government would eventually settle all of those outstanding back pays and increases.

The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training, and National Excellence, Mrs. Chandler Hyacinth, was also present. She listened to the grievances, took notes, and plans to forward all requests and demands to the appropriate government channels. The PSU and members indicated they would wait to hear from Mrs. Hyacinth in two weeks before they plan or engage in further industrial action.

The College administration anticipates a fruitful resolution to this conflict, and President Peters indicated that as long as student success was not compromised, he was optimistic that a mutually satisfactory resolution could be achieved.

Final Exams for the semester begins on Monday, May 10, 2021.