Commerce, Investment and Consumer Affairs Minister Bradley Felix is urging trade unions to be vigilant in ensuring that workers are not taken advantage of and that they are engaged in decent work.
His remarks to trade unions was made at Friday’s Annual Congress of Delegates of the National Workers Union (NWU).
“Many of the jobs that have become available have come with new conditions of employment,” he warned.
Decent work, Felix said, should allow for workers to earn wages that do not result in the concept of the “working poor”. Work, he said, must be fulfilling and meaningful and remuneration should allow for the worker to see upward mobility in his life and that of his family over time.
Felix at the time was outlining his administration’s plans to increase the standard of living of all St. Lucians. According to him the standard of living will be increased by reducing the overall level of unemployment by 15 percent.
“We will do this not by just creating more menial jobs, but by creating decent work, in keeping with the 2030 development goals established by the UNDP,” Felix said.
Another objective highlighted by him is his administration’s aim to achieve an economic growth rate of 12 percent at the least by the end of its first term in office.
“What determines whether our country achieves this economic objective depends heavily on the ability of our workers to produce and output at a very high level of competitiveness in specialized areas of the value chain in the production of a good or service. The reality of today’s world is such that foreign investors are attracted to areas where it is perceived that there exists the skills set to meet their demands and that this skills set is available at a competitive price. Against this background, today’s worker in St. Lucia can best secure his economic gains by ensuring that the standard of work that is produced in his or her areas of competence is of the highest quality…that his attitude to work is flawless,” Felix said.
He added that in this context the trade union movement’s defense of the benefits of workers must now take on board the need to encourage workers to become even more productive.
“Trade unions must give strong consideration to how they may be active agents to improving the skills set, mind set and capacity of workers to produce, and hence command the highest possible share of income from whatever is produced,” Felix said.
According to him the trade union movement in the era must take on board the need to partner with training institutions in such a manner that the workers produced in St. Lucia develop and establish a reputation for excellence.
“It is the excellence of our workforce that will influence the decision by either a St. Lucian or foreign investor to undertake his investment in St. Lucia. It is the growth of business that will eventually lead to a higher demand for labour and consequently lead to labour being able to command a sustained higher level of wages and income,” Felix said.
