Ambassador Chad Blackman appointed to top ILO post

Barbadian Ambassador Chad Blackman has been appointed to the Cabinet of the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation.  Minister of Labour and Social Relations Colin Jordan today extended congratulations to Blackman while praising his service.

Below is the full text of the statement:

Statement from Hon. Colin E. Jordan, M.P., on the appointment of Ambassador Chad Blackman to the Cabinet of the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation

I am happy to offer my sincere congratulations to Ambassador Chad Blackman on his appointment to the Cabinet of the newly-elected Director General of the International Labour Organisation.

Ambassador Blackman has served Barbados with distinction as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Organisations at Geneva. In this service he worked hard to deepen the relationship and strengthen the image of Barbados at the ILO. He worked closely with me in 2019 to ensure that Barbados contributed meaningfully to the development of the newest international convention, C190, on violence and harassment in the world of work. He has also been involved in other aspects of the work of the International Labour Conferences of 2021 and 2022.

His commitment to the principles of tripartism and social dialogue was evident and he was asked to serve as Coordinator for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries and of the Group of the Americas in the ILO.

Barbados has a tradition of positively contributing to the work of the ILO. This is, however, the first time that we have a professional in the International Labour Office and at the level of a senior advisor to the Director-General.

Ambassador Chad Blackman

Ambassador Blackman is a “bridge-builder” and I am sure that will serve the International Labour Office with distinction, as well as the 187 member-states, and the employers and workers groupings of the International Labour Organisation.

He joins the ILO at an important juncture in its history with the world of work fundamentally changed by issues that include the COVID-19 pandemic, geo-political conflicts, supply-chain disruptions, and inflation. He has also joined at the time when the ILO has elected its first Black Director-General.

I wish him well as he assumes this new role.