A recent legislative review of Saint Lucia’s labour code has been lauded a timely and necessary exercise.
Labour Consultant, Winhall Joshua, said the exercise served primarily to gather suggestions to modify the code, so that it reflects ongoing developments, and to provide clarification on some aspects of the code.
“There are nine divisions in the code and with all that it embodies, all what it entails, some people feel that we should clarify some points and also to try to consider some of the recommendations with a view to assessing whether they fit into the overall general purpose of the code, and whether they can be utilized for the benefit of employers and workers and the people of this country,” he said.
President of the Saint Lucia Trade Union Federation (TUF), Julian Monrose, said he welcomed the consultation which he hopes would lead to better working relations between employers, employees, and worker organizations.
“The Trade Union Federation, from the very early days, took a position when some wanted to wait until we have a perfect document to be made law. We were aware that document was not written by God, and so it will not be perfect. And our position was to implement, to legislate the code, and as time went by, to improve it. We were happy that in 2006 the code was implemented, and so we are happy to participate in the review and strengthening the code.”
The TUF President also called for restructuring at the Labour Department. He said unless a restructure is done, all exercises by the department would be futile.
The legislative review of Saint Lucia’s labour code took place on March 21 and 22, and was held in collaboration with the International Labour Organization.