Regional ILO Meeting Ends on High Note

The two-day International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Tripartite Caribbean Conference officially ended Thursday (April 2) at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, in New Kingston.
At the closing ceremony, a document outlining nine principles and actions deemed desirable, as the way forward in response to the current global financial crisis, was presented.
These principles include: the implementation of holistic fiscal, employment and macro-economic policies, to promote human and labour rights; implementation of sound and transparent oversight and regulatory control of financial services to minimize high-risk ventures threatening local and regional economies; implementation of active labour market policies to sustain and promote employment ; and protection of the most vulnerable social nets.
Other proposed principles were: increased access to credit for small and medium sized enterprises, especially informal economic undertakings; transformation in education, innovation, training and retraining systems; reform of international financial institutions to be sensitive to the needs of developing countries; enactment of legislation to protect wages and pensions of workers; and strengthening mechanisms that foster social dialogue at national and regional levels.
The vision statement of the participants of the conference commits to a united, internationally competitive and self-reliant Caribbean Community, “realised through the implementation of sound and socially sensitive development policies, that place all its peoples at the heart of social progress and economic advance.”
Participants included representatives of government, employer and worker organisations of the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean.
Hosted by the ILO sub regional Office for the Caribbean, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) and the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC), the conference aimed to provide a forum for the exchange of views and information.
It also explored practical measures for overcoming the social and labour consequences of the global financial crisis, through tripartite consultations and negotiations.
It was held under the theme: ‘Promoting Human Prosperity beyond the Global Financial Crisis: Seeking Sustainable Solutions through Social Dialogue’.
Jamaica’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles, gave the main and closing addresses.