Harmonised approach to Labour policies crucial to free movement within CARICOM
CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett addresses COHSOD Labour | 8 April 2025
CARICOM Ministers of Labour have agreed to a harmonised and sustained approach to matters related to labour that impact the free movement of people within the Community.
This was the consensus at the Thirty-fourth Special Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) Labour held on 8 April in Georgetown, Guyana, under the chairmanship of Sen. the Hon. Claudette Joseph, Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs, Labour and Consumer Affairs, Grenada. CARICOM Ministers responsible for labour, technical officers, and stakeholders in the Region's labour sector participated.
Participants took advantage of the opportunity to agree on a unified position on critical issues surrounding labour in the Community ahead of the International Labour Conference (ILC), slated for 2 - 13 June 2025.
These discussions are happening during a crucial period of implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). In her brief remarks, CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett noted that most Member States had signed the Protocol on Enhanced Cooperation.
"This means that those countries that are ready to move forward with free movement will be able to do so. If everybody wants to move forward together simultaneously, that would be the most desirable of all the options," stated Dr Barnett.
She added, "We look forward to the decisions of this meeting to guide us at the Secretariat on how we can help to ensure that the views of Labour Ministers - the positions with respect to labour in the Community - are properly supported."
Dr Barnett provides further insight below.
The Chair also highlighted the importance of the discussion by Ministers on free movement, noting that CARICOM Heads had set a deadline for implementation of free movement and that the Region was close to achieving ratification of the Protocol.
"We discussed the question of the free movement of people. CARICOM had set a deadline to implement free movement. We are very close to having ratification of the protocol that was developed," stated the Chair.
CARICOM Heads of Government adopted the Protocol on Enhanced Cooperation at the Thirty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting held in March 2022 in Belize. It aims to facilitate deeper regional cooperation and integration among groups of countries, even if not all countries are ready to participate.
Listen to the Chair's comments below.
CARICOM's Assistant Secretary-General, CARICOM Single Market and Trade, Ambassador Wayne McCook, highlighted the significance of the progress being made by labour ministers on the Labour Market Information System (LMIS). He noted that this development was crucial to advancing the free movement of skills across the Region.
"Progress with that will help not just ministers of labour, but the Community as a whole to look at the way forward in terms of the free movement of skills across the Region," stated the ASG.
Ambassador McCook explains the significance of the LMIS to CSME below.
"Our approach to how we treat with labour would impact how our people move," underscored CARICOM Secretariat's Director for CARICOM Single Market, Leo Preville. He shared his anticipation for consensus from labour ministers on a structured and sustained approach to engagement on labour issues in Member States.
"So as we go forward - even this first time we're meeting in preparation for the ILC - will not be a one-off. It becomes a norm. It becomes the way we do business in the Community. It becomes how we inform ourselves of our positions in the wider Latin American Caribbean group in a coordinated manner. And all of those things eventually lead to the implementation of the CSME," asserted the Director.
The Director provides additional insight below.
COHSOD promotes human and social development. Specifically, Article 17 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas states that the Council, which consists of Ministers designated by the Member States, will promote and develop co-ordinated policies and programmes to improve the living and working conditions of workers and take appropriate measures to facilitate the organisation and development of harmonious labour and industrial relations in the Community.
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