Labour Minister Calls on Members of LMRC to Become Change Agents

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Derrick Kellier, has charged members of the Labour Market Reform Commission (LMRC) to become ‘Change Agents’ in the transformation of the labour market landscape.

Addressing the new Commission’s inaugural meeting on April 15 at the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), in Kingston, the Minister requested the group to explore the advances that can be made, despite the challenges, and to determine what can be done to achieve reform within the five thematic areas of: education and training; productivity, technology and innovation; labour policies and legislation; social protection, and industrial relations.

“You are to ensure that the country’s labour market structure, regulations, policies, programmes and projects are compatible with modern practices, thereby facilitating higher levels of efficiency, productivity and economic growth,” Mr. Kellier said.

The Minister said it has been over 20 years since the first LMRC met in 1994, and that some of the issues have “expanded… as the Jamaican economy has become more complex and deeply integrated into the global economy.”

Mr. Kellier pointed out that the advancement of labour market reform is in keeping with the government’s growth agenda and the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Minister gave the Commission two years within which to make the necessary recommendations for revising and updating the thematic areas that are designed to attain modernization of the labour market and enhance competitiveness in the Jamaican economy.

The Commission is chaired by Dr. Marshall Hall and his deputy is Mr. Silburn Clarke. There are 16 other representatives of trade unions, employers, academia and the public sector on the Commission.

In his address, Dr. Hall said members of the Commission will look at the [labour issues] within the context of the “Jamaica that is and not the Jamaica that was… [and] look at what we have and then take paths to the Jamaica that we want.”

Meanwhile, International Labour Organization (ILO) Senior Specialist, Rainer Pritzer, congratulated the Government for establishing the Commission, “which will support the Government…make sound recommendations and give expert advice. He also assured that the ILO stands ready to offer assistance.

Speaking last month during the 2015/16 Budget Debate, Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, informed that the Commission will be supported by a Secretariat, which will operate out of the PIOJ.