In a region where government and the trade union movement are in a condition of extreme unfriendliness or, as the saying goes at ‘daggers’ drawn’, the administration of Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member country’s labour movement would appear to have taken a step in the direction of an enhanced understanding between government and trade unions with the signing on May day, this year, of what has been described A Declaration of Missions, Barbados.
Seemingly designed to seek to usher a regime of enhanced understanding and collective effort between government and labour, the Declaration of Missions is underpinned by six objectives which were articulated by the Barbadian Prime Minister during her May Day address to the nation. The objectives, all of which have deadlines that extend into the next decade are:
• Becoming a clean and beautiful large-ocean state, championing sustainable development locally and globally – with the goal of all domestic activities becoming 100% sustainable by 2035;
• Transforming Barbados into a country of active, involved citizens. All Barbadians will feel empowered and engaged in the social, economic, and cultural development of the country as confident, creative, compassionate and entrepreneurial citizens, by 2030;
• Ensuring that every Barbadian has equitable and reliable access to clean water and nutritious food that are affordable by 2030.
• Creating a society that prioritizes wellness and happiness. Improve public health and safety, leading to a 50% reduction in new cases of non-communicable diseases and a 50% reduction in crime by 2030;
• Empowering and enfranchising all Barbadian workers and families by creating opportunities for ownership and wealth creation that enable Barbadians to take better care of themselves and each other and reduce the rate of poverty by 50.
• Transforming Barbados to be a high-functioning, resilient society with seamless access to services and meaningful digital inclusion for all Barbadians.
On Monday, the Barbados Prime Minister was joined in “signing on the dotted line” by Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) Trisha Tannis, BWU General Secretary, Toni Moore, President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers Union, Mary-Anne Redman, President of the National Union of Public Workers, Kimberley Agard, and Minister of Labour Colin Jordan.
Such a broad-based ‘agreement’ between government and trade unions in the Caribbean will be seen as a standout development in a region where labour and government are all too frequently divided by issues that extend across industrial relations considerations and extend into political ones, the latter, in some notable instances in the region, being at the very heart of deep divisions between government and labour.
