CARICOM Declaration of Labour and Industrial Relations Principles (Part II)
AS MENTIONED in Part 1, the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) made its Declaration of Labour and Industrial Relations Principles.  The Declaration sets out the general Labour Policy to which the Region aspires, consistent with international standards and other international instruments. It is an important policy guide on labour matters for the Social Partners and will contribute to the development of a healthy industrial relations climate, and enhanced social partnership.  It underscores the rights and responsibilities of the Social Partners, and provides the bases for the development of national labour policies, and informs the enactment of labour legislation.

Chapter IV speaks to NON-DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT AND OCCUPATION

ARTICLE 11: Equality of Opportunity and Treatment

Subject to Article 12 (2), 13 and 14 of this Chapter, the Member States undertake to adopt and pursue national policies designed to promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice, equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation with a view to eliminating any discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.

ARTICLE 12: Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value

1. The Member States shall, by means appropriate to the methods in operation for determining rates of remuneration, promote and ensure the application to all workers of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.

2. Differential rates between workers which correspond, without regard to sex, to differences as determined by objective appraisal in the work to be performed, shall not be considered as being contrary to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.

ARTICLE 13: Special Measures of Protection

Special measures of protection or assistance provided for disadvantaged groups in relevant instruments adopted by competent intergovernmental organisation shall not be deemed to be discriminatory.

ARTICLE 14: Acts Prejudicial to National Security

Any measures affecting an individual who is justifiably suspected of, or engaged in, activities prejudicial to the security of the state shall not be deemed to be discriminatory, provided the individual concerned shall have the right to appeal to a competent body established in accordance with national law and practice.

CHAPTER V: EMPLOYMENT POLICY

ARTICLE 15:   Right to work

1. The Member States shall protect the right of everyone to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to be gainfully employed.

2. The Member States shall pursue policies designed to promote full productive and freely chosen employment.

3. The Member States shall develop policies and programmes of vocational guidance and training, closely linked with employment.

4. Citizens of Member States shall have the right to live and work in the country of their choice within the Community subject to the legislation of the host country.

ARTICLE 16: Prohibition of Forced Labour

1. The Member States shall not impose nor permit to be imposed, forced or compulsory labour for the benefit of private individuals, companies or associations.  No concession granted to private individuals, companies or associations shall involve any form of forced or compulsory labour for the production or the collection of products which such private individuals, companies or associations utilise or in which they trade.

2. The Member States undertake to prohibit the employment of children of less than fifteen (15) years.

ARTICLE 17: Right to Rest and Leisure

The Member States shall promote and protect, by appropriate means, the right of all workers in every location of its territory to rest and leisure, including limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

ARTICLE 18: Payment of Wages

Except as otherwise provided by law or authorised by the competent authorities, wages payable in money shall be paid in legal tender only and shall be paid directly to the worker unless the worker shall have agreed to the contrary.

ARTICLE 19: Deductions from Wages

Deductions from wages shall be permitted only under conditions and to the extent prescribed by national laws or regulations or fixed by collective agreement or arbitration award or where the worker concerned has agreed to such deductions.

ARTICLE 20: Limitation on Attachment or Assignment of Wages

Wages may be attached or assigned only in the manner and within limits prescribed by national law and shall be protected against attachment or assignment to the extent deemed necessary for the maintenance of the worker and his or her family.

ARTICLE 21: Wages as Privileged Debts

In the event of bankruptcy or judicial liquidation of an undertaking or insolvency, wages and other remuneration due to all workers for work done prior to such bankruptcy or insolvency or liquidation shall constitute a privileged debt to be paid in full before ordinary creditors establish a claim to a share of the assets.

ARTICLE 22: Termination of Employment

The employment of a worker shall not be terminated unless there is a valid reason for such a termination connected with the capacity or conduct of the worker or based on the operational requirements of the undertaking, establishment or service subject to due process.

ARTICLE 23: Natural Justice

Where the employment of a worker is to be terminated for reasons related to the worker’s conduct or performance, such worker must be given an opportunity to rebut the allegations made unless the employer concerned cannot reasonably be expected to provide the opportunity.  A worker aggrieved in this behalf shall be entitled to appeal against such termination to an impartial body.

ARTICLE 24: Termination and Redundancy

When an employer contemplates terminations for reasons of an economic, technological, structural or similar nature, the employer shall:

(a) provide the trade union representatives concerned or the workers where there are no such representatives, in reasonable time with the relevant information including the reasons for terminations contemplated, the number and categories of workers likely to be affected, and the period over which the terminations are intended to be carried out;

(b) give, in accordance with national law and practice, the trade union representatives concerned or the workers where there are no such representatives, as early as possible, an opportunity for consultation on measures to be taken to avert or minimise the terminations and measures to mitigate the adverse effects of any terminations on the workers concerned such as finding alternative employment, and inform the competent authority accordingly.

Here ends Part II of my presentation on this subject.  In Part III, I will look at the remaining chapters in the Declaration.

*The writer is the former General Secretary of the Clerical & Commercial Workers’ Union (CCWU) and also a former President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and a former Vice President of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC). He served the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) as Research Officer 1983 – 1998.