The 19th Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), in collaboration with the Seventh International Labour Organisation (ILO) Meeting of Caribbean Labour Ministers, which was deemed as successful, saw participants deliberating on a number of pertinent issues being faced by the region, relating to labour, and moving towards a single market and economy. The three-day meeting was held under the theme “Policy Conference for Human and Social Development in the Caribbean Community: the Contribution of Labour Ministries and the Decent Work Agenda”, at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
Grenada Minister of Labour, and Chair of COHSOD, Mr. Karl Hood, speaking at a press conference after the closing of the meeting, said he believes it was very successful.
“We came to some very good conclusions that affect migration; affects the whole decent work agenda, that affect young people, TVET (Technical and Vocational Education Training) and the CVQs (CARICOM Vocational Qualifications), and how that relates within the whole Caribbean community of Caribbean integration,” he outlined.
He said they also addressed issues concerning the harmonization of labour laws that would bring them in line “so that all the members of CARICOM can be able to have the very same platform upon which they can work on”.
He concluded that the participants have come to some decisions which he believes are very good for the Caribbean community.
“As you would know, the whole Caribbean is looking towards a single market and a single economy, and it is necessary for us as Ministries of Labour to be onboard with that and to ensure that whatever we decide and we come together on, is going to be for the benefit of the whole Caribbean”, he said.
Fielding questions from the media on issues raised on harmonizing social security, he said there was a very robust presentation on social security issues, and they came to the conclusion that it is necessary for the social security platform across the region to be again harmonized.
“So that a person who works in one place or the other would not lose the benefits. We did discuss that and I believe that at the end, having ventilated that, having looked very critically at the challenges of social security in the different regions, I do believe that from this platform that we set, that we will be able to indeed make the firm laws ensuring that the persons who work within the different regions of the Caribbean would not lose social security benefits as they travel,” he explained.
He noted that the issue is how to ensure that funds for benefits remain sustainable, adding, “We have the issue of harmonization of benefits; we also have the issue of promoting to every intra-regional worker the rights that accrue to them now. I don’t think we have properly promoted those.”
“All of these things are work in progress, and I think if our citizens in the region know that some of these benefits do exist, we are going to see a bit more retention of skills within the region,” he stated.
Alluding to the issue of skilled certificates, Free Movement Specialist within the CSME, Mr. Steven Mac Andrew, said the process of free movement of skills is working and already more than 6,000 skills certificates have been issued.
Conceding that there are some challenges that need to be dealt with, he said Ministers of Labour and other relevant ministers who have responsibility for free movement of skills will work on these issues in the immediate period ahead.
He said free movement of persons is working, and in all Member States persons who are entering with skill certificate are accepted, and are being granted the six months definite entry during which period they need to go through a process of verification.
“The six months definite entry which is being granted to CARICOM skilled nationals upon presentation of their skill certificate at point of entry or at the immigration department is in place in all twelve Member States participating in the CARICOM single market,” he assured.
In respect of contingent rights, he said in July 2009, the Heads of Government took a number of decisions relating to this, and subsequently, when the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) met in January, they indicated that Member States should complete national consultations with respect to this issue in the coming months, so that when the group meets again in October, all Member States can fully indicate their positions with regard to the issue.
He said Ministers of Labour have undertaken during this meeting to play an active role with respect to consultations which are taking place at the national level.
He said issues that need to be ironed out include common law spouses, whether or not to include them in the definition of spouse, and with respect to the extension of the right to primary health care.
He revealed that two consultancies which looked further at the whole issue of contingent rights were conducted and came up with a number of new rights, and these studies have been now been submitted to Member States to put into account during the national consultations.
Touching on migration and unemployment among youths, Minister Hood said they looked at the benefit through the free movement, TVET and CVQs, and how to help these young people to understand that there are possibilities in their jurisdiction.
He said they also agreed with the coming on stream of free movement within the CARICOM region, so young people who have attained to a certain level of education or TVET or CVQ, would be able to find jobs much easier in different parts.
CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Dr. Edwin Greene, said much of the problems relating to unemployment in youth have to do with the persistence of low economic growth in the region, but at the same time, emerging from the meeting were some very positive trends that at the level of the policy that could help to alleviate this problem.
He said perhaps one of those is the continuous tripartite dialogue among labour, the private sector, and government, stating, “I think that we cannot underestimate this kind of approach, and Barbados in particular, over the years, has really demonstrated the viability and the importance of such.”
He made it clear that the CARICOM social security agreement is enforced, so all Members States can participate at the present time, noting that it is an important aspect of free movement towards the single market and economy.
Barbados Minister of Labour, Ms. Esther Byer-Suckoo, said they got the CARICOM youth commission report, and one of the things that was recognized is that young people want work more than anything else.
She said they are concerned about social issues such as safety, crime and violence, but at the core of it, “a lot of young people feel that the education system has failed them”.
She said they agreed that it was an urgent matter that has to be looked at, and to this end, agreed, among other things, to accelerate vocational training for the young people.
Byer-Suckoo, observed that a lot of young people are coming out of school with hardly any CXC passes, and the rate of acquisition of basic qualification such as English and Mathematics have declined across the region, and for the young people “vocational training is the way to go”.
Also, she stated that there is a need to de-stigmatize vocational training across the region, since it is seen as being something that is only for persons who are not succeeding academically.
“But we have to remove the stigma so that from very early, students can choose a vocation and start to achieve their qualifications; and we have to do our promotion as well at the national level, as well as at the regional level, to ensure that our young peop
le understand the CVQs and what it means for movement across the region, what it means for the development of the region,” she urged.
She said they are committed to that, and Ministers of Labour have agreed to play a very active role in the promotion of vocational training, since “it is an important area for the development of the labour force, both nationally and regionally.”
Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Dr. Ana Teresa Romero, said one of the issues that also arose in the discussions of empowering youth and training them for the world of work was the need to focus on entrepreneurial education.
“The importance of combining technical and vocational training with the opportunity for entrepreneurial education is also something that came up in the discussion,” she disclosed.
Alluding to the issue of contract workers, she said this is one that definitely falls in the realm of respecting the rights of workers and affording them the opportunity to join trade unions of their choice, and also to have Governments draw up legislation that would also extend coverage to these workers.