Labour Code To Be Revised

THE main piece of labour legislation in the country, the Labour Code, will soon come up for revision and possible changes, according to Labour Minister Stephenson King.

His comments came during an address at the Congress of Delegates of the National Workers Union (NWU) last Friday at the Royal by Rex Resort, Gros Islet.

“I have heard the calls from the St. Lucia Employers Federation and the trade union movement for a review of the main piece of legislation for workers and employers, the Labour Act. This will receive attention during this first year of my stewardship,” King said.

The Labour Minister said that he will soon meet with officials of the regional office of the International Labour Organization to examine the possibility of them providing technical assistance to review the Labour Act.

“Coupled with these two initiatives must be an assessment of the capacity and operational efficiency of the Department of Labour. The traditional reactive role of the department as a solver of disputes must be change to one which is more proactive,” King said.

He said that the department’s role as a source of information on the quality and availability of labour must become a more prominent part of its work programme.

“A strategic plan for the department must be developed and an appropriate structure to execute the plan put in place,” King said, adding that the full development of a Labour Market Information System to facilitate this role as a provider of information on the labour market will therefore be a priority for him.

His comments come on the heels of several pleas by trade union organizations across the country for the Labour Department to be more proactive in its mandate.

Just this week alone the NWU called on the Minister to do a number of things to assist labour relations in the country going as far as stating that the Labour Department had been in a comatose state for five years.

King pointed to un-employment at the top of the list of issues that must be addressed by his government noting that a tripartite approach must be the cornerstone to the environment in which industry will develop and expand in St. Lucia.

“My immediate concern therefore dictates that a mechanism must be established to increase the level of communication among all three parties, to stimulate and establish a stable, conducive industrial climate. This mechanism is one that must be agreed upon by all parties,” King said.

This was King’s first address to a trade union body since being appointed Labour Minister last week. He called for an examination of the quality of the skill set of St. Lucia workers and their level of productivity.

“This is very important as the quality of our workforce determines the level of pay that workers receive; determines whether a foreign investor makes an investment in St. Lucia or not, and determines the extent to which there is equity in the distribution of income produced in the country.” King said.

He called for close collaboration between technical vocational education and the training unit of the Ministry of Education, employers and the National Skills Development Centre and that all training received must result in a certified skill level being attained.

“If St. Lucians wish to command higher wages from their work and place St. Lucia as a preferred place for investment, then the quality of our workforce must be improved both in terms of skill level, the aptitude and ethics of the worker,” King said.