Regional Public Service Representatives Attend 51st Conference in Belize

Public Service Union representatives from throughout the Caribbean are gathered in Belize for their Fifty-first Annual Conference of the Caribbean Public Services Association, C.P.S.A. Fourteen of the region’s nineteen affiliates are in Belize for the event, which ends on Friday. The conference is divided into three meetings, with each group attending the forum that covers topics that are relevant to them. For instance, the men are engaged in a forum that discusses preparation for retirement, artificial intelligence, and union sustainability, while the women are in a session that deals with sexual harassment and violence in the workforce, while the youth representatives are focusing on matters, including the impact of climate change on the public service. News Five asked President of the P.S.U., Dean Flowers specifically about the topic of sexual harassment on the job and how that can be remedied before it reaches the courts.

Dean Flowers

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“That is exactly what we’re trying to do: see how we can formulate recommendations to the respective governments to be able to ensure that there are avenues for women, and especially young women, because Belize is no different from any other country in the world. Our young women do face sexual harassment and violence in the workplace, as crazy as that might sound, Marion, because I’ve received such calls. But people are afraid to come forward, and you’re right. It’s something that must be ventilated in the courts, and so we must find an avenue within the public service to better be able to address this serious issue from an administrative standpoint, as well as from a criminal standpoint, but we cannot make it so onerous on women to be able to have this conversation if it is that they’re a victim. So, that is, I know that will be a big topic of discussion in the Young Workers and the Women’s Forum. It’s not a agenda item for the Men’s Forum and perhaps it should have been. Perhaps it should have been because it is being done by us men for the most part, and so, let’s see what happens on Wednesday. We’ll see on Wednesday. The women, the young workers, and the men will come back before the official conference is open on Wednesday afternoon to give a report on their respective forums and to put forward their recommendations and we’ll see what comes out of those recommendations in terms of how do we implement them and how do we monitor each individual affiliate’s implementation or respective government reception of those recommendations.”