As Barbados prepares to welcome a surge of foreign investments, Toni Moore, the MP for St George North and general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, has urged the government to prioritise the quality of jobs over mere employment numbers.
Speaking from the International Labour Organisation headquarters in Geneva, Moore emphasised the need for effective monitoring of labour legislation to ensure that investments translate into decent work conditions and fair wages for workers across all sectors.
Moore, who was making her contribution to the budget debate via a virtual meeting connection from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) headquarters in Geneva, expressed greater interest in the quality of jobs being created by the plethora of foreign investments than in employment itself.
“While we are indeed heartened by the reports and projections of the many investments that will be coming to this country and the potential for jobs not only in the hotel sector but across other sectors, I wish to highlight at this point that we are not so enamoured with the prospect of job creation in itself, as we are with the creation of decent, quality jobs,” the government backbencher said.
“The government will be held accountable for monitoring, therefore, to ensure that investments coming into this country are matched by decent work, decent hours, decent wages to ensure the principle of sufficiency is maintained, where benefits are not only felt to be enough because somebody thinks there are enough, but there are enough because they meet the needs of the ordinary working man and woman, allowing them to live.
“So, even as we pass legislation relating to labour contracts and labour concessions, I reiterate the call now for effective monitoring and enforcement of these pieces of legislation, and indeed, of all pieces of labour legislation.”
Moore said this does not only apply to workers in the hotel sector but to all employees across Barbados.
The union leader also highlighted the areas to which the budget applies: “To those earning a minimum wage, this budget delivers. For those who are demanding better working conditions, this budget delivers. For those who have been calling for fairer treatment, better benefits and policies that reflect the realities of their lives…this budget delivers because a worker’s dignity should never be left up for negotiation.”
Moore said that this budget reaffirms the government’s commitment to protecting the dignity of workers and the dignity of people, not only because there is a tax allowance for trade union membership – which she welcomed – but because of “all the progressive measures” that have been outlined.
The government backbencher identified the extension of maternity leave and the introduction of paternity leave for men as one example. “These are monumental steps for working families in Barbados,” Moore declared.
She also welcomed the new tax-free meal allowance for hotel workers.
(EJ)
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