As Government embarks consultation on amendments to the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act, Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus has warned that there will be no quick fixes to the existing legislation.
"There are weaknesses in the Act that we need to strengthen and therefore we are bringing all the stakeholders together. And when I say all, I mean all. We are not addressing it in a tripartite framework meaning government, business and labour.
"What we are doing, we are opening in it up to all the players: the regional chambers, all the unions, not only the trade union bodies, because this piece of legislation affects such a wide cross section of the community of citizens.
"We have a sense of what will emerge based on what has been placed in the public sector, but the government will not go forward with any review of any of legislation without the input of all the stakeholders. In the final analysis, we all have to live here. We all have to continue to building this country," she said.
Baptiste-Primus said there was a national consultation in February following which employers had to submit their views on amendment to the Act. She said she had received opinions from the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) but recommendations from the National Trade Union Centre (Natuc) are still outstanding.
The minister said when the process is completed the information provided by stakeholders will be correlated into a working document and distributed to all parties to determine the next step towards amendment of the Industrial Relations Act.
"We will continue to seek consensus on the contentious areas while going forward on the areas of agreement.
"This process is not a quick process. It's not an overnight process. We (are) going to take our time and we are going to get it right. There will be frustration in between. Life is like that," she said.
Baptiste-Primus, who was interviewed on the sideslines of the Industrial Court's Annual Meet the Court Symposium which had as its theme Retrenchments and Lay-Offs, lauded the vision of the Industrial Court president Deborah Thomas-Felix.
She said the topic was ideally chosen and well timed, as it focused on what were the local, regional and international experiences, as well as the role and function of the Industrial Court in such matters.
"The reason and the validation of the Industrial Court is still real today, not only a court of superior record, but a court where justice and fair play is ensured for both employers and employees and therefore what we have to do in the final analysis, it breaks down to a point of establishing nurturing relationships and it is only when you do that, only then can true trust between the employers and the employees begin to formulate and cement itself," she said.