Mr. Derek Been, new Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs attends Meeting of Permanent Secretaries of Ministries of Labour and Senior Labour Officials as his first official duty since coming to the Ministry.
The Meeting of CARICOM Permanent Secretaries of Ministries of Labour and Senior Labour Officials convened at CARICOM’s new Headquarters building just outside Georgetown Guyana on Monday April 9th. Among other things the meeting sought to overview:
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Social Dialogue – What is being done at the national level?
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Labour Market Information and Labour Exchange Systems;
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Efforts to ratify and to implement the eight Fundamental Rights Conventions; and
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The status of implementation of the four CARICOM Model Labour Laws.
The eight Fundamental Rights Conventions represent the internationally agreed social floor below which no worker should exist. Many industralized countries, for the protection of their own workers, are now restricting themselves to trading only with countries where these Fundamental Standards are observed.
In an effort to assist member countries bringing their law and practice in line with the International Labour Standards, CARICOM, in collaboration with the ILO, produced Model Legislation covering four areas. All countries need to do is make any necessary adaptations for their particular circumstances. CARICOM published its Declaration of Labour and Industrial Relations Principles in 1999. The Declaration covers all of the rights contained in the 12 Core Standards.
The meeting which is also attended by the International Labour Organization Caribbean Office, the Caribbean Congress of Labour and The Caribbean Employers Confederation was also to make plans and develop Caribbean positions for the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labour convening in Brazil May 8th and 9th as well as the grand-daddy of them all, the International Labour Conference (ILC) to be held in Geneva Switzerland May 31st – June 16th.
Critical issues on the agenda of the ILC are: A Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health in the Working Environment; an in-depth look at the Employment Relationship; and the Role of the ILO in Technical Cooperation. The Caribbean will continue to discuss these issues including holding our own regional meetings during the ILC to arrive at the positions most beneficial to our region.
The Commissioner of Labour accompanied Mr. Been at the meeting. |
