CARICOM Ministers of Labour have agreed to a harmonised and sustained approach to matters related to labour that impact the free movement of people within the Community.
This was the consensus at the Thirty-fourth Special Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) Labour held on April 8 in Georgetown, Guyana, under the chairmanship of Sen. the Hon. Claudette Joseph, Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs, Labour and Consumer Affairs, Grenada.

CARICOM Ministers responsible for labour, technical officers, and stakeholders in the Region’s labour sector participated.
Participants took advantage of the opportunity to agree on a unified position on critical issues surrounding labour in the Community ahead of the International Labour Conference (ILC), slated for June 2 – 13, 2025.

These discussions are happening during a crucial period of implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). In her remarks, CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett, noted that most Member States had signed the Protocol on Enhanced Cooperation.

“This means that those countries that are ready to move forward with free movement will be able to do so. If everybody wants to move forward together simultaneously, that would be the most desirable of all the options,” Dr Barnett said.

She added, “We look forward to the decisions of this meeting to guide us at the Secretariat on how we can help to ensure that the views of Labour Ministers – the positions with respect to labour in the Community – are properly supported.”

The Chair also highlighted the importance of the discussion by ministers on free movement, noting that CARICOM Heads had set a deadline for implementation of free movement and that the Region was close to achieving ratification of the protocol.

“We discussed the question of the free movement of people. CARICOM had set a deadline to implement free movement. We are very close to having ratification of the protocol that was developed,” stated the Chair.

CARICOM Heads of Government adopted the Protocol on Enhanced Cooperation at the Thirty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting held in March 2022 in Belize. It aims to facilitate deeper regional cooperation and integration among groups of countries, even if not all countries are ready to participate.