Since the mid-1990s the ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean and member States have recognised the need to review, strengthen and modernize Labour Ministries in the sub-region. At the CARICOM 13th meeting of its Standing Committee of Ministers responsible for Labour (SCML) this was emphasized in a Report on the Strengthening of Labour Administration Systems. This report provided visionary statements in terms of the role, function, and mission of Ministries of Labour, through the following recommendations endorsed by that meeting:
- the need to redevelop the concepts of an active labour policy in line with ILO Conventions No. 144 on Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) 1976 and Convention No.150 concerning Labour Administration, 1978;
- labour ministries/departments must be made responsible and accountable for the coordination of labour policies;
- the need to establish labour management information systems;
- the need to increase the resources to departments/ministries of labour, and for the strategic importance of Labour ministries to be fully recognised;
- continuing internal, regional and external training for labour administrators to meet on-going training needs at all levels;
- regular reviews and updating of labour legislation in keeping with relevant international labour standards and changing circumstances;
- the agenda of labour administration needs to focus on issues of social development through employment creation and poverty alleviation;
- the establishment of tripartite labour advisory boards; and
- labour ministries/departments to be equipped with updated libraries, research and planning units to enable staff to keep abreast of developments and provide a source of contemporary information for the social partners.
Subsequently, at the ILO meeting of Caribbean Labour Ministers held in Trinidad and Tobago in April 1996, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Basdeo Panday emphasized the central role of Ministries of Labour by asserting that “no Ministry was better placed than a Ministry of Labour to fulfill the country’s mandate regarding human resource development Ministries of Labour had a responsibility to influence the formulation of policies and strategies for human resource development, employment generation and poverty alleviation…”
In 1998, at the ILO’s Meeting of Caribbean Ministers of Labour in Georgetown, Guyana, the President of Guyana, Her Excellency Mrs. Janet Jagan, in her remarks to the meeting stated that “…ministers of labour have an important role to play in promoting sustainable development within the CARICOM region, but such objectives cannot be achieved unless there is an effective labour administration system with clearly defined and properly coordinated responsibilities. This can only be accomplished if the labour administration organization is adequately staffed, with suitably qualified and trained personnel, well-equipped to meet the challenges of labour and employment policies and practices which are subject to rapid economic, social and technological changes.”
Again, at the ILO’s April 2000 Meeting of Caribbean Ministers of Labour in Kingston, Jamaica, the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable P. J. Patterson, in his address stated that “…. Their role is not simply to resolve disputes. They have to be pistons in the engine for economic growth….” and “Effective tripartism is not possible without strong labour ministries and modern labour administrations,” and “…Thus, developing new issues for labour administration will require adapting the organisation, structures and instruments of the Ministries of Labour…”.
In an effort to reinforce the readiness of the political leadership to assign Ministries of Labour a more central place in national decision-making, the ILO included the issue of modernisation on the agenda of the Ministers of Labour meeting in Jamaica inApril 2000. Prior to this it also carried out a survey on the functions and responsibilities of Labour Ministries in the Caribbean. Consequently, Ministers at their meeting in Jamaica in April 2000 considered the issue of modernization of Labour Ministries.
Ministers highlighted the need for a new and more strategic role that was required from the labour portfolio. It was pointed out that labour and labour market policies needed to assume a central role in policymaking if the countries of the Caribbean were expected to shape their economies to meet the challenges of globalisation. The development of the human capital, the inclusion of workers and employers in the formulation of labour market policies, and the development of industrial relations away from adversarial to a more consensus-based approach were seen as among the necessary ingredients for economic success. These were new challenges for many Labour Ministries.
