Mr. Keithley Lake and Mr. Carlton Pickering
Anguilla was among English and Dutch-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean to benefit from a one-day workshop on The Role of Labour Standards in Accessing International Markets and Supporting the Caribbean Single Market.
The workshop was held in Anguilla at La Vue Boutique Inn on Monday, March 18, by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) office in the Caribbean in collaboration with the Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The facilitators, who are travelling through the region, are Anne Knowles, Senior Specialist; Pierre Francois Recoing, International Labour Standards & Labour Law Specialist; and Wayne Chen, President of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation.
They, and the workshop participants, were welcomed to Anguilla by President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Keithley Lake. “It is indeed a pleasure to welcome you to this important ILO workshop,” he said. “As many of you may know, the ILO is a UN agency charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards. It seeks to bring together Government, business organisations and employee groups to formulate labour standards. This tripartite structure envisions providing an equal voice to workers, employers and Government in the formulation of labour policies and programmes. It is therefore very important that a consensus be reached between these competing groups, in the development of labour standards, with the common goal of creating decent employment opportunities, enhancing social protection and promoting dialogue in the workplace.”
Mr. Lake said there was a need for Anguilla to enter the modern age of formulating a comprehensive labour policy that would address the need and aspiration of all parties. “We are still operating under a 1988 law that needs much to be desired,” he continued. “No matter where you find yourself on the political spectrum, I think that we all can agree that the time has come for us to move forward and put in place a new labour policy. The Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which by its mandate, represents the interest of the business sector, has nonetheless worked hard with other elements of civil society over the past ten years to gain passage of a comprehensive labour code.”
The Chamber President urged the Chief Minister, who was not present, and who was scheduled to deliver the opening address, to move forward on this very important agenda item in “our social contract with the people of Anguilla.”
Chief Minister Hughes, was represented by Finance Officer, Dr. Wycliffe Fahie, who delivered his address: “The Caribbean Single Market and Economy can only be strong if labour is strong. However, despite our best efforts, a productive working environment does not eliminate conflict – and it is the ability to deal with conflict which helps us to determine the contribution that the produce sectors can make to nation-building. In order to deal with conflict, there must be standards set and best practices established. In addition, relationships with organisations such as the International Labour Organisation and the World Trade Organisation will be partially determined by the use of these labour standards.”
The Chief Minister observed in his address read by Dr. Fahie, that such standards would ultimately lead to a document that could serve as a blueprint for labour relations in the Caribbean region.
The workshop’s facilitators were introduced by Carlton Pickering, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who chaired the opening ceremony.
The objectives of the workshop were listed as follows: to increase employers’ awareness of emerging export market requirements, supply distribution chain requirements and a single market approach from a labour standards perspective; increase employers’ awareness and knowledge of core labour standards, the ILO Declaration, the Global Compact and issues relating to Corporate Social Responsibility; increase employers’ understanding of the need to be proactive in adopting good management practices based on the ILO’s core conventions; assist Employers’ Organisation in developing potential services to further enhance the competitive position of member companies in the private sector; and to enable the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation, as the representative employers’ organisation, to play a more effective role in developing social and economic policies at CARICOM forums.
