UNSA takes off
The establishment of the local branch of the UNSA trade union, which began last October, was officially finalised on 12 November. Some of the members of the new local branch gathered on Thursday for the presentation of the executive committee and the representatives for each sector of activity.
Founded in 1986 by Ms Baray and Ms Philomène, the UNSA in Saint-Martin was given a new lease of life in 1994 when it was taken over by two members of the territorial police, and again in 2012 when it expanded to cover the whole territory. This local branch was established with the support of the Guadeloupe Regional Union. Today, it is becoming autonomous with the ambition of serving as a unifying force bringing together the public and private sectors, and with the aim of unifying UNSA’s representation across the territory and playing a significant role in local social dialogue.
To achieve this, the aim is to pool resources and expertise to better defend employees’ rights. The new organisation also plans to train all its activists and promises transparent governance. It will be governed by an executive committee, whose new general secretary is Quincess Sidhwa.
A liaison officer for each sector
Alain Rioual, deputy general secretary of UNSA, will also serve as the representative for the state civil service, supported in particular by Myriam Paquin and Christophe Sauvage, who are in charge of communications. For Alain Rioual, the initial priority is to restore social dialogue within the prefecture – which, in his view, has been non-existent until now – and to review the internal regulations. For the local civil service, the appointed representative is Hubert Fleming. The National Education sector will also soon have a representative, who will also sit on the executive committee. Two sectors are still being organised and are awaiting the appointment of their representatives: the hospital sector and the private sector.
The new organisation will have a national headquarters, thereby gradually becoming independent of UNSA UR Guadeloupe and enabling it to raise the concerns of Saint Martin’s employees more easily.
