Trinidadian Jacqueline Jack was elected as the first-ever female president of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) at its 16th Triennial Delegates Conference earlier this month in St Vincent.

According to reports from the island, Jack is the General Secretary of the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) of Trinidad & Tobago.

Former CCL President and Guyana Trades Union Congress General Secretary Lincoln Lewis was elected unopposed as the general secretary.

Meanwhile, the conference deliberated the burning migrant labour issue and in particular the unregulated movement of workers from outside the hemisphere. Delegates agreed to lobby governments with a view to developing a common protocol to deal with extra-regional migration and to design systems aimed at reducing any hardships being faced by both employers and employees.

They also agreed to adopt a set of proposals, which forms the basis for a development programme for the Caribbean. This programme, ‘Labour’s Platform for the Caribbean’, offers the region’s people and political directorates an alternative economic and social development model – one that focuses on the well-being and development of the people. The model is to be promoted across the region from early 2008.

A resolution was made calling on governments of the region to enact legislation to reduce the incidence of companies severing employees without negotiations with their accredited trade unions or discussions with the labour department.

Other resolutions included one authorising an increase in the dues paid by affiliates; another calling on Caribbean governments to assist the CCL with funding of training and education programmes and general development of workers.

In addition, the administrative committee will meet in January next year to discuss and finalise the work plan and to redesign the operating and accounting systems of the secretariat.

A meeting of heads of the labour educational institutions of the region is set for Trinidad and Tobago, next month.