Chairman of the Employers’ Consultative Association (ECA) Keston Nancoo is calling on stakeholders to move with “urgency” to reform the nation’s labour laws, given rapid changes in the world of business and the workplace.
“It is no secret that this whole question of labour legislation and reform has been in the public domain for quite some time. In 2016, the ECA submitted a position paper which was the subject of discussion at the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC) and we were able to come up with a document which the committee council believed was in the best interest going forward in dealing with labour law reform.
“The last thing was that these proposals were sent to Cabinet. With NTAC not being in place, we are not aware of where in the process this is stuck. The level of urgency really needs some fire.”
Nancoo spoke last week Tuesday at a virtual forum hosted by the Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies on reforming labour laws in T&T.
It was part of a month-long set of activities in June to commemorate Labour Day, which was celebrated on June 19.
Nancoo identified workers in the informal sector as one of the main groups that need legislation to protect their rights.
“Contribution to the National Insurance, payment of taxes, those are the conversations that we must have, it is those that work in that informal sector. Look at what happened during the COVID pandemic, when people thought that they would have received their little $50 or $60 from the National Insurance and when they checked, employers were not paying. That is why the legislative framework is important.”
He also said technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are impacting the workplace and the economy. This raises the issue of how will a “worker” be defined under this new paradigm.
Nancoo added that labour reform is important as it has an impact on companies and the changing world of work.
“When you look at it, there are so many tentacles that labour reform finds itself. We are living in a time where there are so many challenges with our youths, and when you look at the world of work and the job market, labour legislation and legislative reform, people may think that it’s not connected but there are connections in terms of getting people off the streets. There is the introduction of remote work. That requires serious consideration as it’s becoming a way of life. We still don’t have the level of clarity from the employers’ perspective, we are still not very clear as to what’s the next step. There needs to be a refocusing on labour legislation. Let’s stop just talking about it.”
He acknowledged that tripartite discussion is important and the Government, labour and business must all come together to discuss not only labour laws but other issues in the economy.
“Let’s rekindle that fire of hope. It is about what is in the national interest.”
Modernising labour legislation
General Secretary of the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) Michael Annisette, who also spoke at the forum, said labour laws and the labour market are critical to the development of the economy.
“The focus is on the adaptability of the labour market and also our culture and history as a region. I am speaking not about T&T now, but I am speaking as a Caribbean man. We are a very small region and the question of the cohesion of the region is important as it relates to the labour market.”
He gave a historical view of labour legislation in T&T with the Industrial Stabilisation Act (ISA) being enacted in 1965.
This was followed by the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) of 1972 which repealed and replaced the ISA.
Based on pieces of legislation that are over 50 years old, he said labour laws needed to be updated to meet the needs of the contemporary world of work.
“There are many changes, given the new dynamics of the world of work and we are moving towards a digitalisation of work and therefore our adaptability is required.”
He said in 2017 the labour movement gave recommendations on labour law reform and it was submitted to Cabinet.
“We are now in 2023 and those recommendations for the changes in labour legislation have not seen daylight.”
Like Nancoo, he said that there should be an “urgent” thrust from all stakeholders to ensure that the work to begin to reform decades old labour legislation begins.
“This must be tripartite participation in the process and it cannot be mere window dressing as each day we are forced to face the realities of the world of work. We cannot as a people choose to not recognise social dialogue, social justice and labour legislation. In the absence of that, T&T will suffer.”
Annisette questioned whether the Government is serious about reforming labour legislation or any other types of issues.
He said the labour movement had raised questions about the future of state-owned oil company Petrotrin. The labour movement also brought up the importance of closing off all outstanding wage negotiations and they were all ignored by the Minister of Finance.
Government economic policy
Annisette used the example of Barbados of when Prime Minister Mia Mottley took office that country’s foreign reserves were low and it went to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mottley held stakeholder meetings with the entire country, said Annisette.
In September 2022, it was reported that Barbados Government entered into another IMF programme in an effort to raise US$340 million in financial assistance.
Annisette said that the IMF advised Barbados not to raise the minimum wage because it could not afford it and yet some stakeholders advised the Prime Minister to ignore the IMF and the minimum wage was eventually raised.
He also said T&T is going down an “economic precipice” which is having serious negative effect on society.
He gave statistics which show that 65 per cent of employees in the T&T’s state sector are on contract labour and he contrasted this with Barbados where he said over 3,000 contract workers in the public sector were regularised. He said giving employees’ permanent status raises productivity in the workplace and in the economy in general.
“The Government is the biggest employer in T&T and if the example of the Government is to have employees working for 10 years or 15 years within the Government services herein lies the underpinnings of the problems in T&T. We also have a growing and galloping income and wage gap in the country. We have a wealth gap in T&T that is frightening.”
