Prime Minister Says Workers Continue To Build The Nation

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, says workers in both the private and public sectors are a special group who continue to build the country.

“As we celebrate Workers’ Week 2015, I therefore salute and thank our workers for their sacrifice, support and understanding in an environment of economic challenges over the past several years.  Their cooperation has played a major role in ensuring the ongoing success of Jamaica’s Economic Reform Programme,” she said.

In a message read by Member of Parliament for Central St. James, Lloyd B. Smith, at the St. James Labour Day Church Service on May 24, at the Mount Zion United Church, in St. James, the Prime Minister reiterated that the ultimate objective of the ERP is to generate meaningful economic growth, economic expansion and the creation of more high quality jobs and higher incomes for workers.

She urged workers to remain engaged with the Government, “as together we seek to increase the size of the workforce and create greater social and economic opportunities for all our people.”

“The ultimate improvement in the lives of workers is one way of ensuring that the labour struggles of 1938 were not in vain.  In 1938 the struggle was with the colonial rulers and economic interests based overseas.  Today, we are the masters of our own destiny and the Government is committed to creating an environment that is conducive to all Jamaican workers fulfilling their potential,” Mrs. Simpson Miller said.

“On this occasion, I salute the pioneers of the workers movement in Jamaica who fought relentlessly to advance the cause and secure improvements to the conditions of workers.  In celebration of our workers, our tradition in Jamaica is to put labour into Labour Day and to use the occasion to improve our communities,” she added.

The Prime Minister urged all citizens of Jamaica to dedicate themselves to maximum participation in the activities of Labour Day (May 25), as the country renders focused attention on the protection and safety of children, while at the same time saluting and showing appreciation to the nation’s workers for their sacrifice and ongoing support of  the ERP.

“In the context of the theme, ‘Labour of love: Nurturing our children’, we will be creating spaces of beauty and safety for our children to play, learn and enjoy the innocence of their childhood,” she said.

The Prime Minister noted that ‘Workers’ Week’ is among the most important special occasions normally observed in Jamaica every year and is a time when the country pay tribute to workers who form an important pillar of the nation.