TUF Leader Raps Labour Dept.

Monrose Says It Needs To Be Modernized.

PRESIDENT of the Trade Union Federation (TUF) Julian Monrose says that there have been improvements in relations between employer and employees, however there are employers who do not see employees as partners in the work place thereby creating problems that could be avoided.

But his biggest concern is with the Labour Department which he says is archaic and needs to function efficiently.

Monrose, who also heads the Saint Lucia Teachers’ Union, said

“There are cases in Saint Lucia where the relationship between employees and employers is good and other cases where it’s not so good. There are also cases where the relationship needs to be improved. It’s a partnership. Employers need employees and employees need employers. Some employers understand that and are working towards improving the situation”.

He is not the only trade unionists with concerns about the Labour Department. Others have shared that concern as well in the past.

The National Workers Union, for instance, has repeatedly called on the Labour Department to intervene in matters of discord at workplaces, complaining over and over of the department’s tardiness in dealing with matters involving employees and employers.

Monrose is of the view that for there to be the sort of improvement in the labour movement in the country needs, the Labour Department must modernize itself, get its act together and be an efficient agency that effectively polices the labour laws of the country.

“The Labour Department is not functioning efficiently especially when it comes to policing the labour laws. The Labour Department that is expected to work with unions that are always keeping up with labour laws and situations the world over, is in itself not modernized but it tries to police labour legislation that is modernized,” Monrose said.

He added that there are cases upon cases piling up at the Labour Department for want of attention.

“There are employees who have given up waiting for their cases to be heard. When those cases do come up for hearing at the Labour Department they are handled badly,” Monrose said.

He called on the people at the department to do what is expected of them and to carry out investigations in matters that need to be investigated.

“The law gives them, the Labour Department, the power to investigate and to visit business places to investigate them,” Monrose said.

The government also came in for a rubbing from Monrose “Government must ensure that its agent, the Labour Department, functions properly,” he said.