Labour minister says legislation assures minimum level of treatment for workers

Business leaders have succeeded in pressing the Mia Mottley administration to make changes to legislation that seeks to set down minimum labour standards for firms that get concessions from government.

After two separate meetings in which Cabinet and top civil servants, led by Prime Minister Mia Mottley and including Minister of Labour Colin Jordan, sought to explain the Labour Clauses (Concessions) Bill to the Barbados Employers Confederation (BEC) and the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA), the feedback led to two rounds of changes, according to Jordan on Wednesday.

Specific details on the government’s concessions to the business leaders were not immediately available.

But Jordan told Barbados TODAY: “The bill speaks to if you are enjoying concessions from the government, which [National Insurance] taxpayers’ money foregone. So, in other words, money that could fix roads, money that could sort out the water issue – that money is not being collected because some businesses are getting concessions. This is not to say that they should not get concessions but it is to say that if you are getting the concessions, then [for] the people who work in your establishment… there should be some minimum level of treatment that we should not go below. So, this has to do with workers.”

The BPSA had summoned an urgent meeting on Wednesday for its members to discuss the bill and its possible impact on them, along with concerns raised about the legislation. That meeting’s agenda referred to “the potential risk to the private sector if this legislation becomes law in its present form”.

Jordan explained: “We asked the private sector for input. We met with them, explained the bill… I guess they spoke to their members. So, we received their input and we made some changes to the draft. So, that was the BEC which is part of the private sector association. But then the private sector association itself asked for a meeting because they wanted clarity on a number of things.”

That meeting was held on Monday morning.

“In that meeting, they asked some questions, and we offered the answers,” the labour minister recalled. “In fact, we made a couple of further changes to the draft bill as a result of that meeting. There were concerns. They were put on the table. The Prime Minister was there, I was there, Minister [Ian] Gooding-Edghill was there, Senior Minister [Kerri] Symmonds was there, Director of Finance [Ian Carrington] was there, the Attorney General [Dale Marshall] was there. So, it was a meeting with all the people who could make the input.

“We heard the concerns, we heard where there was agreement. We made some amendments…and I think the amendments that we made alleviated the major concerns that the BPSA brought to the table. So, I am satisfied that we have done what we had to do.”

He said the business community’s reported reaction to the proposed legislation and its likely impact, which he said did not reflect a full grasp of its details, suggested “fearmongering”.

“There is no reason for fear, only because of the philosophy behind the bill. And the philosophy behind the bill is that if you are enjoying the benefit of taxpayer money, then you should be held to some minimum standard with respect to how those workers are treated…how the workers that you have in the establishment are treated. So, that is essentially where we are at,” Jordan said.

Commenting on the agenda for BPSA’s Wednesday meeting which highlighted the bill’s “potential risk”, the labour minister said the only risk to any employer was if they treated their workers below established standards.

Contending that the draft law’s provisions were nothing arbitrary, he said the bill was supported by international labour standards and was also the right thing to do.

Jordan stressed that the Labour Clauses (Concessions) Bill provided a “framework” for further consultation, appeals to a Barbados Revenue Authority tribunal and even to the High Court under the Administration of Justice Act if it is believed the government was guilty of some underhand act.

He continued: “The bill on its own does not compel any minimum standard of treatment. The bill is a framework bill [that] allows for there to be consultation; if you decide that there is a particular industry or sector that you believe needs to be held to a particular standard, then there is consultation with employer representatives and with worker representatives.”

The minister pointed out that the Chief Labour Officer would conduct those consultations and then set rates for contracts.

He referred to the Labour Clauses (Public Contract) Act of 1952 which is based on the same principle and governs how the State deals with a business receiving government contracts.

Pointing out that the proposed legislation is not a new idea, Jordan noted that the 1952 law was passed in Barbados three years after the International Labour Organisation (ILO) brought together governments, labour and employers and agreed on the introduction of the Labour Clauses Public Contract Convention.

“Our Labour Clauses (Public Contract) Act reflects that convention. It reflects it by saying that if you as a business or company [are] benefiting from government contracts… taxpayers’ money… if you employ people, you should be held to some minimum standard. I mean, I don’t see how anybody could think it is unfair. It would only be unfair if that minimum standard was arbitrarily set,” Jordan contended.

When head of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry James Clarke was reached for comment on Wednesday’s developments, he referred Barbados TODAY to BPSA chairman Trisha Tannis, who could not be contacted up to the time of publication.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb