Gov’t Aligning Labour with Global Trends While Safeguarding Rights – Minister Charles Jr.

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., has emphasised the Government’s commitment to aligning labour practices with global trends while safeguarding rights.

The Minister was addressing the recent Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) 50th Anniversary Luncheon and Awards Ceremony at the Courtleigh Hotel and Suites in New Kingston, where he highlighted the need for strategic transformation to ensure that Jamaica’s workforce is equipped to thrive in a rapidly evolving global labour market.

He said the changing dynamics of work demand a modern, inclusive and forward-thinking approach.

He pointed to several global developments that are reshaping labour relations, including digitisation, automation, artificial intelligence, the emergence of remote work, and the expanding influence of multinational enterprises.

“All of these things… are some of the factors that alter how we perceive labour and the rights of employers and workers,” the Minister said.

“This modernisation must now be in concert with the reform of our laws, our practices, to ensure that we continue to protect the fundamental rights at work while also encouraging a culture of maximising productivity,” he added.

The Minister noted that there are several initiatives to strengthen workforce readiness, including investment in continuous training, leveraging digital technologies, and fostering collaborations.

“We have developed strategies not just to raise awareness but to ensure that we prepare our country for work. These include job readiness workshops, career fairs, and several other modalities to make sure that we are preparing Jamaicans to fill the positions now and to come,” he pointed out.

He highlighted the importance of education and awareness for both workers and employers.

“We also must engage them and give them the knowledge to understand how to navigate, how to operate as employers, how to operate as employees,” he said.

“We will also ensure that the [IDT] embrace a more proactive role in shaping standards in our labour market, not just adjudicating them after disputes arise,” the Minister said.

“Labour must be the engine, not just the causality of development. We must be the ones to drive it in a very deliberate and strategic way,” he added.

The Minister further urged workers “to acknowledge their responsibility under our legislation to perform to their best ability… . The journey certainly continues, the work remains, but with unity, vision and courage, Jamaica will get it right”.