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The growing number of complaints made by workers of perceived exploitation at the hands of their employers, begs the question as to whether the right to 'Decent Work is being undermined by some unscrupulous employers in this country. To the average Barbadian employer, the notion of decent work may be linked to the matter of pay.
It must be stressed that decent work relates to more than pay. Arguably, it should extend to the feeling of ownership by all employees.
According to the Glossary of 'Industrial Relations and Related Terms and Concepts For Trade Unions', as produced by the International Labour Caribbean Office, decent work " Implies access to employment in conditions of freedom; the recognition of basic rights at work, guaranteeing the absence of discrimination or harassment; an income enabling one to satisfy basic economic, social and family needs and responsibilities; an adequate level of social protection for the worker and family members; and the right to participation and a voice at work, directly or indirectly through self- chosen representative organization.
Barbados's acceptance of the ILO's concept of decent work is reflected in Protocol 4.
This is identified under the head of the National Employment Policy, where Section 4.3 (d) clearly highlights the agreement of the Social Partners. It reads, "The Social partners also agree that such a national employment policy should specifically: Ensure the provision of those conditions which accord an understanding of the right to decent work, including a written statement of the particulars of employment, the payment adequate wages and salaries, reasonable working times, satisfactory arrangements for wholesome conditions at work, for security when ill or absent from work, and for the application of suitable and acceptable benefits on retirement."
Substantiated reports have confirmed that some local employers are guilty of not observing the notion of decent work. Some have been known to have made arbitrarily changes to the conditions of employment. One example to be cited, relates to the dismissal of an employee by a business in the north of the island, for failure to come to work on Saturdays. Under the contract of employment, the employee was required to complete a forty-hour work week, Monday through Friday, with work on Saturday having been determined as being optionable.
In another instance, the security of an employee in a time illness, which warranted absence from work, was seemingly compromised by the employer. In this instance, the employer sought to withhold part of a day's pay of the employee who took ill on the job, and had to be taken away to seek medical attention. The excuse tendered by the employer for withholding pay, was that the employee did not sign out before leaving the compound.
In many instances weekly paid employees are the victims of dismissal, where no notice of intended termination, nor reasons for dismissal are given. In as much as these employers are not obligated under law to account for their actions, any recourse through the Labour Department is negated by the fact, that it is powerless to act.
Trade unions have in times have also be rendered powerless to act, as in some cases the employee involved is non unionized, while in others, the employers have sought to immobilized the workers' representative, by laying off unionized employees, or by employing the now common trend of replacing Barbadian Labour by immigrant contract labour.
Employers who peruse a path that seemingly compromises the expectations of employees in their right to decent work, ought should not be allowed to continued to perpetrate such repressive behaviour in a highly developed Barbados Society, that prides itself on following accepted industrial relations practices. If a turn around in this is to be imminent, the CTUSAB considers that greater emphasis has to be placed by the Social Partners on the protection of workers who exercise their constitutional right to freedom of association.
Added to this, the Social Partners must move beyond the commitment to the implementation stage, in initiating a policy that is aimed at protect employees from arbitrary dismissal. It is simply not enough for the Social Partners to have a written policy statement that speaks to the fact that all employees shall enjoy the right not to be unfairly dismissed, or to be unfairly prevented from continued employment, and that the procedure for the termination of employment shall accord with the principle of natural justice, and the principle enunciated by International Labour Organization.
If this approach were adopted, it would send a clear signal of the intention to satisfy Section 4.2 (e) of Protocol 4 in its aim" To protect the existing employment and to provide jobs for all Barbadians who are available and desirous of work....". However the process towards ensuring decent work would be incomplete if Section 4.3 (f) was not immediately addressed, in as much as it focuses on the provision of" Adequate safeguards against recourse to contracts of employment for a specific period of time, whose effects are designed to run counter to the purpose of such a policy and so negate the intended protection of workers' security of tenure.
By: Dennis De Peiza, General Secretary, CTUSAB
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