The Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association (AHTA), whose membership has the largest number of employees on the island, has met with the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, and Labour Commissioner, Mrs. Aunika Webster-Lake. It was the fifth such meeting held with a number of stakeholders recently.
President of the AHTA, Mr. Delroy Lake, spoke to his colleagues at the start of the meeting at the Tourist Board’s conference room on Thursday, April 28: “This session is important and I am sure that all of us would like to have our say on some parts of the code. It is a document of 133 pages and some of us only got it a few days ago. I am sure many of us, like me, have only gotten to page 3, but I hope that some of us have gone through other portions of the document and so will be able to share our concerns and suggestions.”
Mrs. Webster-Lake, who initially spoke on behalf of the Minister, who was at another meeting, said in part: “The Labour Code is in draft form and it is the intention of the Minister to have it in the House of Assembly before December 31, 2016. This is the reason we are now speaking with people about it…While you may not agree with every part, we see this as a document which holistically addresses the labour issues of this island.”
The Labour Commissioner explained that the code applies to all employers and employees except the police, other employees of the Crown whose employment is governed by General Orders; persons entitled to diplomatic immunity; and the master or member of a crew of a vessel, paid by shares in the profits.
“It is a code that deals with everybody now so our scope has changed,” she stressed. “If we are saying to you that you don’t have proper conditions, and you need to close down your place until it is fit so that your employees have to be taken care of, we will have to say the same thing to the Government of Anguilla. The double standards are going to be wiped away with this code.”
She pointed out that the scope of the Labour Code is broader than previously. It will include a job registration and placement service, at the Labour Department, aimed at promoting employment opportunities for nationals of Anguilla. According to Mrs. Webster-Lake, her department will try to instil in employees the value of good work ethics – giving a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.
“We are not saying that because you are an Anguillian you are entitled to a job,” she pointed out. “There is nothing called a sense of entitlement with us. You will have to earn [employment]…The system is going to be a bit more vigorous, a bit more thorough. The International Labo
ur Organisation has conventions and we should be governed by them. Those conventions will be ratified in Anguilla in the near future which means that we are going to become liable for whatever the ILO is saying when it comes to labour and labour standards. Right now the organisation has a very heavy focus on child labour. We don’t have that issue here in Anguilla, but we can’t say we won’t have it later – so we want to be proactive in what we are doing.”
When Minister Cora Richardson-Hodge joined the meeting, she spoke and answered questions on a number of legal issues. Among those matters were the powers of a tribunal to preside over and settle labour disputes ,and the functions of a trade union. Both the Minister and the Labour Commissioner gave further explanations of the draft Labour Code which was completed in 2013 and made available for discussion with civil society and other members of the public, but principally employers and employees in the private sector.
Further consultations will be continued to apprise stakeholders about the provisions of the Labour Code before it is taken to the Anguilla House of Assembly for passage later in the year.
