Dr. Anna-Teresa Romero, Director of the ILO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean visited the Turks and Caicos Islands July 23rd – 26th. The Mission was in keeping with the ILO’s agenda of generating Decent Work Country Programs across its member states. The Office held a Caribbean Employment Forum last October that concluded with a seven-page Tripartite Declaration and Plan of Action for Realizing Decent Work in the Caribbean.

In the document the tripartite constituents – Employers, Governments and Workers, reconfirmed their continued support for and commitment to the four strategic objectives of the International Labour Organization’s Decent Work Agenda namely;

1. Promoting and realizing Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,
2. Creating greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income,
3. Enhancing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all, and
4. Strengthening tripartism/multipartism and social dialogue.

While here Dr. Romero called on the Acting Governor, Her Excellency Mahala Wynns, Minister of Health and Human Services, Dr. the Hon. Lilian Boyce, Minister for Labour, Hon. Galmo Williams, The Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Labour and its Employment Relations Training Workshop. All of the meetings could be described as cordial and mutually informative.

Turks and Caicos have been represented at the Caribbean Labour Administration Conference(s) and at the CARICOM Ministers of Labour Meeting(s) since 1998. We also attended the Caribbean Employment Forum last October. TCI Labour Administration is in the process of implementing some of the improvements recommended as a result of the ILO’s work in the Sub-region.

As is the case in other countries and territories, our report card is mixed; in some cases we’re on the cutting edge, in others we’re falling far behind. We are among the shining in the area of employment legislation. We have provided the Minister our first/baseline Annual Labour Administration Report. (This report covers the year 2006.) We have developed our comprehensive Handbook for Labour Inspectors, first in the Sub-region. We are very close to publishing our Handbook on the System of Industrial Relations. Here we think we have a good opportunity to come in fourth in the Sub-region.

We look forward anticipating the follow-up to Dr. Romero’s visit and catching up in some of those areas where we’re lagging behind.

This is the first mission to TCI of an ILO Director.