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The meeting is a collaborative exercise between the ABWU and UNI Global, a grouping of unions throughout the hemisphere representing four million workers across various sectors.



The two-day meeting begins on Thursday August 8 at the Jolly Beach Hotel, attracting 16 unions from across the Caribbean, represented by a total of 30 delegates.



General Secretary of the ABWU Senator David Massiah, who is down to give welcome remarks, said the meeting is crucial in addressing a number of pressing matters. Also down to give remarks are Labour Minister Dr Errol Cort and the General Secretary of UNI Global Philip Jennings and UNI Americas Regional Secretary Adriana Rosenzvaig.



The support of UNI Americas in bringing a greater sense of organisation to the financial services sector, the telecoms industry, is a key fundamental of the meeting, Senator Massiah pointed out.



The areas are important pillars of strength in the Antigua & Barbuda economy and the ABWU already represents most of the workers operating in the two sectors. But while there are good examples of worker organisation in some telecom companies and other financial entities, some require attention like Digicel, Flow, and G4S.



Discussions on these matters will fall under the agenda head Creating Strategic Success for UNI Caribbean Unions. It will bring attention specifically to the sectors of Finance, ICTS, Postal and Logistics Services and Private Security.



“The ABWU is also very delighted that we were able to attract the resources of UNI Global to Antigua and Barbuda since the agenda of this meeting will also bring attention to the pressing issue of private security,” Senator Massiah said. “We will gain the advantages of common strategies in ensuring that this sector benefits from improved organisation.”



Other key agenda matters include identifying urgent areas for capacity buildings among member unions, UNI Breaking Through in the Americas, and a discussion on a Strategic Action Plan for 2013 – 14.



The countries represented at the meeting are The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago, with facilitators from Canada, Switzerland, and Uruguay.



Source: www.caribarena.com