The Barbados Experience presented by Mrs. Alison

Transcript:The Barbados Experience presented by Mrs. Alison:
The Barbados Experience presented by Mrs. Alison Elcock - Senior Safety and Health Officer, Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector Hemispheric Workshop “Social Dialogue for a sustainable, just and equitable recovery” - July 12-13, 2022 – Bogota, Colombia Social Dialogue Response Frequency of Social Partnership Meetings Co-opting of Expertise Engagement of the Public Sunset Legislation on Severance Successes A cross section of views contributed to national legislation and public health protocols The responsiveness of the Office of the Attorney General to produce legal instruments in a short time Issues at the national and sectoral levels were identified Barbados Employment and Sustainable Transformation (BEST) Programme introduced for the Tourism industry (accounted for 40% of the workforce) offered grants and equity investment to tourism firms to re-engage workers at 80% of their normal pay allowed for investments in the transformation of the tourism plant comprehensive training programme Positive impact on vaccine uptake Creation of a sense of national goodwill: food donations and income grants to vulnerable persons Challenges The need to balance the varying interests of stakeholders Education, Health and Tourism sectors experienced significant negative impacts Strain and stress placed on persons employed in the health care sector Threat to business continuity Operating in a virtual environment - technical limitations negatively impacted the quality of interactions at times Institutionalized social dialogue was strengthened Overall strengthening of engagement between stakeholders Third Sector partners added e.g. faith-based organizations; Barbados Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (BANGO) Heightened public reporting – the average person has a better understanding the role of the national Social Partnership Bipartite dialogue became necessary; proven useful in assisting organizations to address its internal issues Recognition that social dialogue need not be limited to economic matters Impacts of Tripartite Consultation on Responses and Labour Relations Environment Engagement and involvement in the decision-making process improved industrial relations Opinions when considered to arrive at decisions even though there may not have been consensus Heightened willingness to carry out the actions necessary for the implementation of the agreements Solutions fit for the specific sector or organization were agreed; workplace dialogue to collaboratively devise mitigation measures Common understanding that public health protocols as well as occupational safety and health safeguards had to be applied across both the public and private sectors Benefits of social dialogue highlighted