Local Government Reform to devolve powers and resources to local authorities to provide public services where they are needed have been on the agenda for a number of governments in the Caribbean. For many years, PSI’s affiliates in Belize, Dominica and Trinidad & Tobago have been engaged in many ‘consultations’ and discussions on this issue by their respective governments and local and regional government (LRG) employers. In all cases the discussions have been highly charged and frustratingly long with no mutually acceptable end in sight. Local government reform has been lagging as it is a politically charged, complex issue and several obstacles obstruct the way.

To aid in their efforts to successfully advocate and achieve progressive, effective LRG reform in their countries, affiliates in the Caribbean worked with the Cipriani College of Labour & Co-operative Studies (CCLCS) and its Director, André Vincent Henry PhD, to investigate the various systems of local government in the Caribbean. With valuable support from FORSA, the CCLCS prepared A Scoping and Mapping Study on Local & Regional Government in the Caribbean. The main aim was to identify key characteristics, the major challenges, and recommendations for action. The findings have helped PSI Caribbean affiliates to better understand the complexities of the LRG sector in their region and to determine pathways to improve public service sector unions’ capacity to advocate and act to bring about progressive change. 

This initial research/baseline research, spearheaded by the PSI Caribbean Sub-region’s LRG Steering Group, has proved invaluable to the Public Service Union of Belize (PSUB) in developing a campaign to submit proposals to the reform process. Organising workers in the country’s local government system is critical to a successful campaign for local government reform.