PRESS RELEASE – THE St. Lucia Employers’ Federation, in collaboration with the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), hosted a Social Dialogue Consultation at the Bay Gardens Resort on November 17.
The Social Dialogue mechanism facilitates the tri-partite partners which comprise representatives of Labour/Unions, Employers and Government, to discuss fully with a view to reaching consensus on matters that impact the socio-economic situation of the country, thereby preempting the escalation of issues which can disrupt the industrial climate in the country.
Twenty-eight tri-partite representatives attended the consultation which comprised 14 union representatives from the National Workers Union, Civil Service Association and the Trade Union Federation, which includes the St. Lucia Teachers Union, Nurses Association, Police Welfare Association, Fire Service Association, among others; 7 employers’ representatives and 7 employees from the Labour Department, including the Labour Commissioner, who delivered the keynote address.
The Consultation was also addressed by the President of the Federation and 1st Vice-President of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation, Barrister Vern Gill.
The parties achieved consensus on the need to approach the Government to formalize a Social Dialogue Mechanism for the country and to write to the Minister of Labour in that regard with recommendations as to the structure and governance procedures to ensure its sustainability over the long term.
The consultation was facilitated by the ILO in the person of Rainer Pritzer, the Senior Specialist Social Dialogue and Labour Administration at the ILO Office in Trinidad.
The tri-partite partners are indeed eager to see that the concept of formalized Social Dialogue takes root as St. Lucia is the only CARICOM country without such a mechanism to ensure constant dialogue among its tri-partite groups and which can only augur well for the country’s overall development.