CTUSAB demands seat at national decision-making tables

The Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) is calling on the government to ensure it is included on all national boards and committees that impact workers’ rights and livelihoods.

Speaking to the media at the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) headquarters, CTUSAB President Ryan Phillips expressed deep disappointment that the organisation continues to be left out of critical decision-making spaces.

The most recent, he said, was its exclusion from a newly announced advisory committee linked to proposed changes to the Minimum Wage Act.

“This is not a minor oversight,” Philips said. “It is a significant breach of the spirit and intention of the tripartite process. CTUSAB must emphatically assert that no committee discussing wage policies, employment standards, labour reform, or socio-economic development can be considered complete or legitimate without proper and meaningful worker representation, and that representation must come from CTUSAB as the duly constituted national body of organised labour.

“CTUSAB is not seeking token involvement, but is demanding that as the national trade union centre, it is engaged in the decision-making process on fundamental matters which affect their daily lives, incomes, workplace rights, and lives and the future of families,” Phillips added.