DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR PROMOTES SOCIAL DIALOGUE AMONG SOCIAL PARTNERS AND STRENGTHENS PROCESS OF POLICY MAKING

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Photo: The Honourable Vance Amory, Premier of Nevis and Minister of Labour

Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 16, 2016 (SKNIS):  In a quest to further promote social dialogue among social partners in St. Kitts and Nevis and strengthen the process of policy making in the world of work, the Department of Labour in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean is hosting a two day training workshop at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort.

The workshop which runs from Tuesday, November 15 to Wednesday, November 16 will see a number of issues being discussed including good practices from other countries and social dialogue in St. Kitts and Nevis. A presentation on Labour administration and ILO Convention No.150 and Recommendation 158, perspectives from social partners on the Draft Labour Code and the way forward for the Draft Labour Code will also form part of the discussions.

The Honourable Vance Amory, Minister of Labour, delivered the featured address at the opening ceremony and noted that the training is timely, as sessions such as these are of paramount importance to the Federation.

“The fact that this training is taking place today is for me a great accomplishment,” he said, while congratulating the staff of the Department of Labour for coordinating the training. “I have sought through our discussions from the inception of my duties as Minister of Labour to emphasize the importance of training, because I see the transformation of our labour market environment as being essential to the whole positive reshaping of the dynamics of labour administration and social development and dialogue in St. Kitts and Nevis.”

Minister Amory explained that the training will prove beneficial to all, especially the younger population.

“Today, as we go through this training exercise, discussing the issues which are important to us in St. Kitts and Nevis, important to the tripartite arrangement, we see the transferring of important information that will redound to the advancement of opportunities for our young people,” said the minister of labour. [Opportunities for] “Our men and our women to seek, [in order] to obtain decent and productive work on the conditions of freedom, equality, security and human dignity. I think those are important issues which we have to ensure, and I want to suggest that these are irrefutably prerequisites for success and prosperity in our country.”

Participants were encouraged to use the training sessions as a guide to better themselves, as social dialogue is a very important tool which is geared towards equipping them with the necessary skills needed to provide the kind of leadership to deal with the way labour issues are perceived in St. Kitts and Nevis, the region and worldwide.

The workshop is attended by representatives from the ILO, St. Kitts and the Nevis Teachers Unions, the St. Kitts and Nevis Trades and Labour Union, the St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, as well as the Staff of the Department of Labour on both islands.

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