BY JOY-ANN GILL | FEB 9, 2024

Minister of Labour, Colin Jordan, listens to a question from the media at today’s post-Cabinet press conference at the Ministry of Home Affairs and Information. He was joined by (left to right) Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams; Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins; and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds. (GP)

There is nothing new about the Labour Clauses Public (Concessions) Bill 2024, now before the Parliament of Barbados.

This was emphatically stated today by Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector, Colin Jordan, as he addressed the post-Cabinet press conference at Webster Business Park, Wildey, St. Michael.

Mr. Jordan, who stressed that labour clauses and the idea behind them was not new to the world or to Barbados, told media representatives the Bill, laid on Tuesday, February 6, seeks to protect workers and to say to employers “there must be a level below which you should not go, in order to earn your profits”.

Providing a brief history on the Bill, Minister Jordan, explained that in 1949, the International Labour Organization, at its annual conference, adopted a convention (Convention 94) on Labour Clauses in Public contracts.

He said: “A previous iteration of government thought it, back then in the early 1950s, necessary to enshrine that in national law. So, in 1952, the Labour Clauses Public Contracts Act was passed…. Now there are some who suggest or who seem to suggest that the idea of labour clauses is new … and so the philosophy behind that speaks to businesses that employ people, that benefit from government expenditure, in other words, taxpayers’ money….

“We hold to the view that if a business that employs people is benefiting from taxpayers’ money, then their profits, and even before we get to profits, their revenue, cannot be at the expense of their employees. It cannot be at the expense of those who work for them. So, we’ve had the Labour Clauses Public Contracts Act, in place since 1952. That legislation is what we call framework legislation; framework from the perspective that it does not bind anybody to do anything but it allows the Chief Labour Officer, in consultation with employer representatives, in consultation with worker representatives, to set rates of pay; to set conditions of work, below which any business or any entity that is benefiting from taxpayers’ dollars, with respect to contracts, should not go.”

In addition, Minister Jordan stressed that the legislation aims to make sure that workers in this country are protected. 

“Businesses have the right to make money. And, we are all about businesses making money. We want businesses to be profitable. Government cannot employ everybody. It is the private sector that does a lot of employing and we want private sector organisations and third sector organisations to be profitable. We want to expand; we want to increase the number of people they employ. All we are asking is that that profitability, that expansion, that growth is not at the expense of workers,” he contended.

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Government Committed To Protecting Consumers

 BY  SHARON AUSTIN – FEB 9, 2024 

Government has reiterated its commitment to do whatever is necessary and within its control to protect the interests of consumers.

Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins, stressed this point today as she addressed a post-Cabinet press conference, at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Webster Business Park, Wildey, St. Michael.

Senator Cummins noted that a recent meeting was held with the private sector, and thanked its members for always being willing to come to the table despite some challenges.

“They have placed on the table in that meeting, some further recommendations on how, together with the private sector, we can consider making further interventions into the market.

“I can give the commitment that under the Ministry (of Energy and Business), the Department of Commerce [and Consumer Affairs], we will be developing a paper in collaboration with the private sector and looking at how we can make any further interventions into the market, where applicable, to ensure that we do what is necessary to protect the interests of consumers,” the Minister assured.

Stressing that all the factors were not within Government’s control, she pointed out that Government’s actions had demonstrated a commitment to do what was necessary “to ensure that we protect the interests of consumers”.

Senator Cummins noted that countries across the globe had been complaining about increasing prices. “These are not factors that are impacting Barbados alone, but what we have seen is that…this administration, where possible, within our control, has not been afraid to act. We have not hesitated to intervene and even at the expense, in some instances, of government revenue, we have ensured that we have intervened in the interest of consumers,” she emphasised.

A Social Compact between the private sector and Government was implemented from July 21, 2022, to January 31, 2023, and phase two was introduced at the end of the initial compact. Forty-seven items were included in the basket of goods.

Senator Cummins said the Ministry of Commerce had been looking at specific products and had been analysing the basket of goods and tracking their prices. “What we have undertaken to do on a monthly…and on a bi-weekly basis is to look at what those trends are,” she stated.

She added that during the period the prices were reviewed, several items were below the compact prices that had been negotiated by her predecessor, Kerrie Symmonds.

“And those prices continue to trend below what the compact prices were. In every product, what we have seen is that the prices negotiated during the compact…have held,” Senator Cummins said.

She noted that Government had continued to work very closely with the Bridgetown Port to ensure a reduction in container charges and opined that these measures would dampen the impact of external factors on the prices charged to Barbadians.