Days of work stoppage by faculty and staff at Dominica State College (DSC) have ended, and the higher education institution has officially resumed normal academic operations, according to the college’s interim leadership.
Trudy Christian, DSC’s Officer in Charge and Interim President, confirmed the return to regular classes during a live broadcast interview on state-owned Dominica Broadcasting Service (DBS) radio this Tuesday.
The industrial action that disrupted academic activities last week was not rooted solely in salary disputes, as a college staff member previously told local outlet Dominica News Online (DNO). For years, employees have raised a series of unaddressed concerns, many dating back to the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria. These include lingering infrastructure damage, years-long delays in confirming permanent appointments for long-serving lecturers, the absence of regular salary reviews, and extended vacancies for critical administrative roles such as Bursar and Human Resource Manager. This backlog of unmet demands first led to faculty and staff industrial action back in 2021.
“We are now anticipating a full return to all regular academic programs,” Christian stated in the interview. “Over the past week, industrial action by our faculty and staff interrupted the delivery of classes to our student body.”
However, Christian outlined that productive negotiations held between the DSC Board of Governors, college management, and the staff union on Monday resolved many of the sticking points, formalizing preliminary agreements reached the prior week that address core union demands. With the work stoppage now fully suspended, Christian is calling on all students to re-engage with their studies.
“The industrial action has come to a halt, and we urge all students to seize this opportunity to continue pursuing their educational goals,” she said. She extended particular encouragement to first-semester new students, who faced disappointment when their college experience began amid last week’s disruption. “We want new students to settle into campus this week and commit to their academic journey working alongside DSC’s lecturers,” she added.
This year’s incoming freshman cohort numbers 616, and Christian confirmed that all new and returning second-year students are expected to attend their regularly scheduled classes immediately.
Breaking down the key issues that prompted the work stoppage, Christian explained that one major point of contention was the unimplemented 3% salary increase owed to faculty and staff under a national public sector agreement. The three-year triennium agreement between the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) and the government, running from 2023 to 2026, outlined staggered salary increases of 3%, 2%, and 3% for all public officers, including DSC employees. DSC was able to roll out the first two increments, but financial constraints blocked the final 3% raise.
A second outstanding issue was the completion of a long-delayed staff reclassification exercise. Third, the college still has unfinished infrastructure repairs, most notably the campus auditorium, which sustained damage years ago. Christian also noted that additional concerns around faculty appointment confirmations and a government consultancy project for the college were also raised during negotiations.
Christian stressed that all core demands have now been formally addressed, with the Government of Dominica stepping in to meet the funding gap. The government has committed to increasing its annual subvention to DSC to cover the extra payroll cost of the outstanding 3% salary increase and fully implement the staff reclassification process, a pledge it first made last week.
For the long-delayed auditorium renovation, the Ministry of Education has committed to finalizing the public tendering process for the project, as funding for the work has already been allocated in this year’s national budget. “These are the major substantive issues that were raised, and this is how each has been resolved moving forward,” Christian confirmed.