Press Release

Workshop on Productivity Improvements for Small and Micro Enterprises to be hosted in St. Lucia

Senator the Honourable Dr. Ubaldus Raymond, Minister in the Ministry of Finance is slated to deliver the keynote address at the St. Lucia Employers Federation (SLEF) upcoming Membership Workshop entitled “Productivity Improvements for Small and Micro Enterprises” on January 18, 2017 at the Bay Gardens Hotel at 9:00 am. The workshop will be held in collaboration with the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the St. Lucia National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC). Also addressing the opening ceremony will be Ms. Linda Besson, Executive Secretary of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation and Mr. Vern Gill, President of the St. Lucia Employers’ Federation.

In accordance with the implementation of the European Union funded project which aims to facilitate the participation of CARIFORUM civil society in the regional development and integration process, the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) conducted a workshop during the Regional Bipartite Forum held in Grenada from November 3-5, 2015. The purpose of that workshop was for CEC members, of which SLEF is an affiliate, to identify the training needs of its members, chief among which was the necessity for a training workshop on “Productivity Improvements for SME’s”.

Amongst the facilitators will be Ms. Vanessa Phala, Senior Specialist on Employers’ Activities attached to the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, who will be providing participants with an Overview to some ILO Productivity Tools; Ms. Fiona Hinkson, Executive Director of the National Productivity Council, who will be presenting on “Productivity & Competitiveness Indicators, Measurement, Data Requirements & Data availability in St. Lucia” and “Measures to Improve Productivity at various Organizational Levels” and Mr. Joseph Alexander, Executive Director of the St. Lucia Employers’ Federation who will be addressing “Improving Productivity/Controlling absenteeism”. The workshop will conclude with discussion on policies and strategies to address productivity.

Private Sector Business Employers and others interested in attending this workshop should contact The Secretariat of the St. Lucia Employers Federation, L’Anse Road, Castries, telephone: 452-2190.

Ends.

PRESS RELEASE

Thirty-Five (35) representatives from 20 companies as well as representatives from leading trade unions and the Ministry of Labour in Barbados will participate in a Forum entitled “Understanding Issues of Productivity and Exploring Ways of Improving”, to be held at the Accra Beach Resort in Christ Church, Barbados, on Friday, January 13^th, 2017.

In accordance with the implementation of the EU Project which aims to facilitate the participation of CARIFORUM civil society in regional development and integration process, the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) conducted a workshop during the Regional Bipartite Forum held in Grenada from November 3-5, 2015. The purpose of the workshop was for members of the CEC to identify training needs.  Two topics were identified for the first series of training workshops to be undertaken in each member country. These topics are:

1. Business Continuity and Disaster Management
2. Productivity Improvements for SME’s

The workshops on productivity improvements for SMEs will be implemented during the months of January to March 2017. The workshops will be held in all 15 CARIFORUM member countries. The aim of the workshops is to engage on practical information relating to productivity improvements for SMEs and where applicable share some of the ILO tools developed to improved productivity.

The scheduled workshop in Barbados marks the beginning of this regional initiative with topics to be discussed at the Forum including: Productivity and Competitiveness indicators, measurement, data requirements and data availability; measures to improve productivity at organizational levels inclusive of social dialogue; and the role of the education system in cultivating productivity. There will also be an introduction of ILO Productivity Tools i.e. SYMAPRO, SCORE and WISE and discussion on the way forward by way of policies and national strategies.

Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development for Barbados, Sen. the Hon. Dr. Esther Byer-Sukoo is carded to speak at the Opening Ceremony, along with Ms. Vanessa Phala, Senior Specialist, Employers’ Activities, ILO; Mrs. Marguerite Estwick, President, Barbados Employers’ Confederation; Mr. Cedric Murrell, President, Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Association of Barbados; Mrs. Tony Moore, General Secretary, Barbados Workers’ Union; and Ms. Roslyn Smith, General Secretary, National Union of Public Workers.

Members of the media are invited to attend the Opening Ceremony, scheduled as follows:
Opening Ceremony: Friday, January 13^th, 2017 8:45am – 9:30am; Accra Beach Resort, Christ Church, Barbados

CONTACT

For further information or to register your interest in covering the Opening Ceremony at the Forum, please contact:

Ms. Kara Sealy, Labour Management Advisor, Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC), becon@barbadosemployers.com / (246) 435-4753

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The Caribbean Employer Issue 2: September 2016 is now available for your viewing. Read More “The Caribbean Employer Issue 2: September 2016”

CEC AND CCL CONSIDERS CARICOM ONE STEP CLOSER TO REGIONAL SOCIAL DIALOGUE

The Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) and the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) are pleased and encouraged by the recommendations on social dialogue within the CARICOM and CSME processes coming out of the consultation convened by the CARICOM Secretariat on 19 September 2016.  This consultation with the representatives of Government, workers’, and employers’ organizations built consensus to successfully produce recommendations on social protection and social dialogue.

Having examined five examples of regional social dialogue arrangements from Europe, Africa and Latin America, CEC and CCL affiliates along with representatives of Government agreed that social dialogue should be integrated into the existing CARICOM structures to allow the CCL and CEC representatives to participate in the ongoing discussions and shaping of policies of the Community and the Single Market Economy to contribute to regional social and economic development. The social partners further recommended that a regional mechanism should be created where national tripartite partners can engage so that national dialogue can filter upwards to the regional level to create substantive synergy on issues discussed to create greater and more meaningful impact.

The social partners also proposed that CEC and CCL representation at the Conference of Heads of Government be reinstated so that their perspectives, concerns and proposals can be presented directly to the Heads. The trade union representatives were particularly emphatic in their argument for this particular point.

Ms Jennifer Isaacs- Dotson, CCL 1^st Vice President, concluded: “The trade unions are optimistic that the recognition of the CCL and the CEC will now be established so that they can make substantive contributions at all levels of the Community.”

The tripartite partners also proposed for the consideration of the Ministers of the Council of Human and Social Development (COHSOD) that the Council engage in a general discussion on social protection and that the CARICOM Secretariat partner with the ILO to develop a social Protection Strategy for CARICOM.

The CEC President, Wayne Chen said:

“If these recommendations are implemented then we would have experienced a quantum leap forward in our governance that will make the policymaking process more inclusive, efficient, and focused. The outcome should be an improved environment for investment, enterprise, and the creation of decent and sustainable jobs and economic opportunities.”

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—americas/—ro-lima/—sro-port_of_spain/documents/publication/wcms_501948.pdf

MEDIA RELEASE

June 17, 2016

Uniting to Rebuild, reshape and reenergise T&T

 The Employers’ Consultative Association (ECA) of Trinidad and Tobago wishes to extend warm greetings to all stakeholders in the Labour Movement and by extension, the nation of Trinidad and Tobago on the occasion of Labour Day. As a premier Employers Organisation, the ECA is heartened to see the strides that we have made as a country, despite numerous hurdles. The fact that we can engage in open celebrations to commemorate the struggles of our forefathers who fought to secure the rights and privileges that many of our workers enjoy today speaks volumes of the progress made thus far. Furthermore, this day allows us to reflect on and recognise the vast potential that this nation can aspire to when we unite as a people.

However, these celebrations are being held at a time in our country where the industrial relations climate can be described as adversarial and volatile, significantly compounded by the weight of continued economic uncertainty and obvious signs of deteriorating trust and mutual respect amongst social partners. This is indeed unfortunate.

Several years ago, the ECA would have articulated its position that extremism, in various forms, continue to stand as an obstacle to partners in the Tripartite Social Dialogue process, a system which the ECA believes can yield meaningful results. However, this requires a paradigm shift by all stakeholders to truly commit to moving beyond adversarial bargaining to a truly participatory and collaborative approach to solving the many problems that exist in this great nation. The time has come for all of us as leaders of institutions, civil society, leaders and citizens of our beloved nation to shift our focus from the short and medium term and look to the long term well-being of our society and nation, lest we risk leaving a system of chaos for our children and grandchildren. Let us rebuild the trust in our institutions, instil the moral and spiritual values that seemed to have evaded us and work together to build a path to long-term growth and sustainability. There is no time to lay blame as our window of opportunity is closing as surely as tomorrow will come.

The ECA believes that the best is yet to come and therefore stands ready to contribute in this regard with a commitment to working with all stakeholders to generate new ideas and fresh approaches rebuild, reshape and reenergise our reality. For according to Peter Drucker, a respected educator, writer and management expert.

“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence- it is to act with yesterday’s logic”.

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http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20160608/new-job-programme-targets-unattached-youths

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http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/ilo-ending-child-labour-in-supply-chains-is-everyones-business/