Caribbean labour officials to announce joint commitment to improving dispute resolution across the region

Jamaica is among 30 labour officials from across the Caribbean who will announce their joint commitment to strengthening their national labour dispute resolution institutions and processes tomorrow at the closing ceremony of 'Making labour justice accessible to all: ILO subregional symposium on dispute resolution in the Caribbean' – a two-day event hosted by the International Labour Organization.

The officials are expected to adopt a series of outcomes that will serve as a roadmap for accelerating improvements in their national labour justice frameworks to achieve fair, effective and sustainable dispute resolution systems.

The agreement will be a result of their deliberations during the symposium, where they shared best practices and knowledge to find solutions to barriers such as limited accessibility, independence and accountability, as well as scarce resources, complex procedural requirements, and inadequate remedies.

Hosted at the Hilton Hotel in Trinidad and Tobago, participating countries are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Errol Miller, chairman of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal, is among the high-level participants representing Jamaica. Other participants include: Helen Almorales-Jones, Acting President of the Industrial Tribunal, The Bahamas; Edith Jeffrey-Nelson, Chairperson of the Labour Tribunal, Saint Lucia; Ferdinand Welzijn, Chairperson of the Mediation Council, Suriname; and Heather Seale, President of the Industrial Court, Trinidad and Tobago.

Closing speakers for the symposium are Dr Joni Musabayana, Director, ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean; and Vera Paquete-Perdigao, Director, Governance and Tripartism Department, ILO-Geneva.

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