EU-Funded Workshop To Strengthen Employer-Labourer Relationship

Ensuring labourers and employers have an equal voice in the development process within the region is what Thursday morning’s International Labour Organisation-European Union National Bipartite Meeting was centered around.

Caribbean Congress of Labour President, David Massiah said the national seminar is geared towards sensitizing its membership in the development of capacity strengthening in each of the regional organisations.

“We’re here in St Kitts this morning to sensitize our members more or less to the importance of us being a part of this project and to ensure that at the end of the three year project we’d be in a position to have strengthening of the Trade Union Movement and likewise the strengthening of the Employers Federation whereby they will upload to the regional organisation of CCL and CEC,” he said.

Massiah said his organisation believes it is important to represent its members within the entire Caribbean alongside the governments of CARICOM.

“This workshop this morning is to demonstrate the collaboration between the workers and employers in bipartite process so that we can demonstrate the work we have in seeking to respond to the development crisis that we have within the region as a whole,” he said.

Meanwhile, Caribbean Employees Confederation Vice President, Vern Gill, said they are a part of a wider ILO project to go through the various member organisations and develop capacity with a view to sustainability.

“We have an obligation to the members and to the EU, who funds this, to be able to monitor and assist with the implementation with EPA and to ensure that the labour standards, decent work agenda those are focused on and sustained as we go along over time,” he said.

Workshops started last week in St Lucia, Grenada, Dominica and Antigua. Ten more workshops will be held throughout CARICOM/CARIFORUM including the Dominican Republic and Haiti.