Address by his Excellency Jerry Narace, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentary Head, CSME Unit
“Labour Administration in the context of the CSME”
HOSTED BY:
THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR, SMALL AND MICRO
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
Thursday 22nd March, 2007
Ministry of Labour Small and Micro-Enterprise Development
Level 5
Riverside
Plaza
Good Afternoon!
I am indeed delighted to participate in this forum hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development (MLSMED) on the critical issue of Labour Administration in the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Labour in all its dimensions is today considered as perhaps the single most important element to the growth and development of economies the world over. Its importance and significance lies in the fact that a ready, available and competent supply can ensure that economies are adequately equipped to combat the forces of globalization and trade liberalization and in so doing make the transition from under-developed to developing and ultimately towards developed nation status.
At the national level, the Government considers labour to be a core element in its developmental policy. For this reason, the five (5) developmental pillars of
Developing Innovative People; Nurturing a Caring Society; Enabling Competitive Business; Investing in Sound Infrastructure and the Environment; and Promoting Effective Government, focus on ways and means by which labour will be kept competitive and readily available in light of the main issues of job creation, social protection, good labour relations and labour mobility. These issues are however not unique to us in
Trinidad and Tobago but are also reflective of the concerns of our regional counterparts.
Consequently, our main regional commitment, the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) has among its primary objectives: improved standards of living and work, full employment of labour and other factors of production, enhanced levels of international competitiveness and increased production and productivity. The CARICOM Single Market (CSM) component of the CSME which was established in 2006 among the twelve participating Member States of
Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, provides for the free movement of goods, services, capital, persons and the right of establishment and are the regimes from which the main labour issues are addressed and from which labour administration is to be guided.
The regimes governing the free movement of
goods, services, capital and the right of establishment in the CSME collectively seek to place the region’s economies in a position that would allow them to provide additional job opportunities for all CARICOM Nationals and so encourage labour mobility. Labour, as you know, will be attracted to where returns are the highest and production is organized.
The free movement of goods and services set in train a favourable regional climate for job creation activities and labour mobility.
For quite some time now the region has had a fully operating system in place for the free movement of goods. This has promoted not only intra-regional trade but more so international trade.
Trade in services today, accounts for an increasing share of production and employment resources in both developed and developing countries
. In developed countries, this lies between 60 and 70 percent, while it is on average smaller in developing and least developed countries. Experience has shown that the fastest growing service sub-sectors are telecommunications, transport, health and finance. The removal of discriminatory and restrictive measures as required under the CSME in areas so requiring, will certainly provide ideal business development and job creation opportunities for regional service providers. Such service providers are able to
conduct business in the Single Market without hassle through harmonised Immigration Procedures. In this way they are able to boost their production, productivity and competitiveness.
As a means of ensuring that production of both goods and services are organized and meet the required standards, a number of legal and institutional measures are already in place or are being worked on.
As a means of providing a level playing field for all businesses - whether new or existing, measures aimed at eliminating anti-competitive business practices are being implemented.
To this end, efforts are currently underway in all participating Member States of the CSME for the establishment of both a Regional Competition Commission and a National Competition Authority.
Barbados and
Jamaica are the only two exceptions having already had in place such bodies while
Trinidad and Tobago is currently working on the establishment of a Fair Trading Commission.
Added to this, and also prescribed under the CSME is the need for the establishment and efficient functioning of National Bureaux of Standards, which will assist the work of the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) in ensuring that quality and standards are maintained in regional production of goods and services.
Contributing significantly to both job creation opportunities and labour mobility in the CSME, is the provision relating to the right of business establishment. Article 32 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas grants this right to persons, companies and other legal entities such as partnerships. As such, an individual wishing to establish a business must be engaged in non-wage earning (self-employed persons) activities of a commercial, industrial, agricultural, professional or artisanal nature; or form or register a company if he/she wishes to engage in any of those types of economic activities.
Accordingly, CARICOM Nationals wishing to establish a commercial presence under the CSME are allowed:
i.
Ease of entry to establish a commercial presence and indefinite stay to do so;
(It should be noted that currently the region is working towards harmonised procedures for the entry of persons wishing to establish a business in another
Member
State)
ii.
Ease of administration for the registering and/or incorporation of companies;
iii.
Access to capital in the receiving member state;
iv.
Access to land, buildings and other property for purposes directly related to the establishment of a business; and
v.
Freedom of entry for managerial, supervisory and technical staff and spouses and immediate dependent family members.
Even though the right of establishment is currently operational subject to the rules and regulations governing the establishment of businesses in each respective
Member State, Companies’ Registrars have been meeting regionally to discuss a harmonized approach to legislation and the institution of appropriate supporting mechanisms and infrastructure. The intention of these discussions is the creation of an enabling environment for CARICOM Nationals to be able to move easily to another
Member
State and to establish a business presence, without the need for re-incorporation or registration.
These opportunities, while providing for mergers, joint ventures and partnerships also enable the development of small business enterprises and so assist in job creation.
The free movement of persons provides in large measure, ways and means by which labour mobility is encouraged; social
protection
afforded to
workers and Member States are provided with an adequate and competent labour supply. The free movement of labour in the CSME provides for the movement of CARICOM Nationals to another
Member
State for the purpose of engaging in economic activity. Under the current arrangements for labour mobility, specified categories of wage earners and self employed persons can access free movement. The specified categories of wage earners are University Graduates, Sports Persons, Media Persons, Artistes, Musicians, Nurses and Teachers while the self employed persons who can benefit from this provision are service providers and persons establishing businesses. Through this regime, CARICOM Nationals are afforded the opportunity to secure jobs in a market that has been expanded to reach as far as
Belize in the northwest to
Suriname in the south.
With the institution of
CARICOM Lines and Non-CARICOM Lines at all ports of entry and the introduction of the CARICOM Passport, CARICOM Nationals are able to access Hassle Free Travel whether for the purpose of work or pleasure.
As a form of social protection to CARICOM Nationals working in other Member States, the Social Security and Double Taxation Agreements have been implemented. The Social Security Agreement
allows for the totalling of all insurance contributions paid in the respective Member States where a National previously worked, while the Intra Regional Double Taxation Agreement which came into force in 1994 protects self employed CARICOM Nationals such as service providers from paying taxes twice on the same earnings. This Agreement is currently enacted in
Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados,
Belize,
Dominica,
Guyana,
Jamaica,
Saint Lucia,
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
and
Trinidad and Tobago.
Much to the credit of this regime is the fact that Member States will be in a position to attract labour and so have an available and competent supply. It is recognized that there are some Member States which are currently experiencing apparent labour shortages in some of their key sectors. As such consideration is being given to the inclusion of hospitality workers, domestics and artisans in the categories of wage earners who can access free movement. Arising out of the discussions of the recently concluded Eighteenth (18th) Inter-sessional Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community held in
St. Vincent during the period February 12 to 14th 2007, the Conference approved proposals for streamlining arrangements that will facilitate the free movement of artisans in the regional labour market. The system approved by the Heads will allow for artisans to obtain credentials through the award of the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (CVQ) based on occupational standards set by the industry. It is expected that the CVQ will be in place by July 2007.
The Conference also agreed that the free movement of domestics and hospitality workers can be facilitated in a similar manner to the free movement of artisans and shall be considered after the CVQ model is launched.
It is to be noted however that the Community has committed itself to the goal of free movement for all CARICOM Nationals for the purpose of economic activity on a category basis and over an agreed schedule. In this regard, the Conference accepted the proposal of the Regional Task Force of Stakeholders, which includes labour, business and civil society as developed in March 2006, with respect to the implementation of full free movement of CARICOM Nationals by the end of 2009 according to an agreed schedule. Such schedule being :
|
YEAR
|
SKILLS LEVEL
|
|
2007
|
Associate degrees and equivalents, such as Professional Qualifications and relevant Technical and Vocational Education Qualifications
|
|
2008
|
CXC ‘O’ Levels and equivalents such as related Technical and Vocational Qualifications
|
|
2009
|
All CARICOM Nationals
|
While these market regimes of free movement of persons, goods, services, capital and the right of establishment address the issues of job creation, labour mobility, labour supply and social protection, the issues of competitiveness and good labour relations are dealt with in a wider context in the CSME.
As a means of promoting competitiveness in the labour force, Article 63 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas speaks to human resource development in the context of developing measures which will, inter alia, support the thrust towards international competitiveness in the development, production and delivery of goods and services. As such, human resource development addresses the issue of developing programmes for CARICOM Nationals and at the same time developing the necessary skills and attitudes required to foster a culture of entrepreneurship.
In light of this, the Conference of Heads of Government in 1997 approved a Regional Human Resource Development Strategy which places emphasis on training in the context of a Single Market and Economy.
The Government of Trinidad and
Tobago, in recognition of this potential of the CSME, has invested in education and training programmes, which have gone beyond the traditional transmission mechanisms. Through several interventions, a range of informal and formal education and training opportunities are currently being offered as a means of enhancing the skills of the current and emerging labour force. Some of these programmes include the Government Assisted Tertiary Education (
GATE) Programme, On-the-job training (OJT) Programme, Multi-Sector Skills Training Programme (MUST), Re-training Programme and Spanish courses offered in communities across
Trinidad and Tobago by the Secretariat for the Implementation of Spanish (SIS).
Based on the participation rate, these programmes are proving quite successful in developing our labour force.
Good labour relations are stipulated in Article 73 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which relates to Industrial Relations. This Article calls for the formulation and adoption of measures to promote and establish stable and harmonious industrial relations in the Community, thereby promoting:
(i)
the objectives of full employment; improved living and working conditions; adequate social security policies and programmes; tripartite consultations among governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations; and cross-border mobility of labour.
(ii)
recognition of the principle of non-discriminatory treatment among Community workers in pursuit of employment within the Community.
(iii)
the establishment and maintenance of effective mechanisms for the enhancement of industrial relations, particularly that of collective bargaining.
(iv)
awareness among Community workers and employers that international competitiveness is essential for social and economic development of Member States and requires the collaboration of employers and workers for increased production and productivity in Community enterprises.
With this in mind, steps are currently being undertaken to introduce harmonized labour laws throughout all participating Member States. These laws pertain to:
i.
Recognition of Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations;
ii.
Termination of Employment;
iii.
Non-discrimination and Equality in Employment; and
iv.
Occupational Health, Safety and the Working Environment.
Once implemented, these laws would ensure that common industrial practices are observed and would therefore enable businesses to pursue human resource development strategies.
While the Single Market seeks to address these main labour issues, the vision articulated for the Single Economy and subsequently adopted by the Heads of Governments at its last meeting, highlights an holistic approach, encompassing development in all its dimensions. As such, labour issues are treated within the context of developing appropriate social infrastructure and policies as it relates to Human Resource Development. The Single Economy is today a work in progress and its implementation has been broken down into two phases - Phase I being the current period to the end of 2009 and Phase II being 2010 to 2015.
While the CSME provides some solid directives for the resolution of the main labour issues of supply, competitiveness, good relations and mobility, the success of such directives depend heavily on effective and competent Labour management. As such Labour administrators have a duty to ensure that the market is responsive to the needs of the labour force.
The ILO Decent Work Agenda promotes - access for employment to all workers; the recognition of fundamental rights at work; an income to enable people to meet their basic economic, social and family needs and responsibilities; and an adequate level of social protection for the workers and family members. The CSME is committed to the principles of the ILO Decent Work Agenda since it recognizes that particular attention must be paid to the protection of wage earners moving to other Member States in order to seek employment. I am happy to note that work is being undertaken to develop the Decent Work Country Programme in
Trinidad and Tobago.
Apart from this initiative, labour administration should take on board the need to have in place a system that would provide information on job availability, wages and other conditions of employment. The Labour Market Information System, which has been approved by Cabinet since 2005 will certainly cater to these needs.
While the initiatives of Decent Work and the Labour Market Information System are intended to promote an enabling environment for labour, it is also imperative that Labour Administrators understand and appreciate the ever changing needs of the labour market. Nationally and regionally, such needs, as you know, have been shaped by the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market. In this regard, I urge all administrators to engage in information gathering and dissemination on these critical issues and undertakings.
In closing, ladies and gentlemen, the CSME provides ways and means by which the main labour issues of job creation, labour mobility, social protection, competitiveness and good labour relations can be addressed both from the national and regional perspectives. An efficient labour force, as you know is, key to economic growth and development and forms the foundation upon which a developed society is built.
As such, labour must continue to feature prominently in governments’ developmental objectives. To this end, I am happy to note the work being undertaken by the Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development (MLSMED) in developing the labour force and addressing the concerns of the labour market in
Trinidad and Tobago.
I Thank You.
