The government and employers and workers representatives have signed on to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCP), aimed at creating decent work and sustainable enterprises.
“The decent work programmes focus on ways in which creating jobs, while promoting respect for rights, social protection and social dialogue can be made central to social and economic development,” the Government Information Agency (GINA) said in a report on the signing ceremony hosted at the ministry’s boardroom on Wednesday.
The signatories to the document are Minister of Labour Dr Nanda Gopaul; Samuel Goolsarran, Executive Director of the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industries Limited (CAGI); Norris Witter, President of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC); Kenneth Joseph, General Secretary of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG); and Dr Giovanni de Cola, Officer-in-Charge, ILO Decent Work team and office for the Caribbean.
Prior to signing the agreement, Gopaul said the ministry is committed to working with the social partners who have also signed onto the document. “Dealing with labour issues is not an easy job so this piece of document will indeed be a great help to the sector… this is not the first time the ILO has helped Guyana in developing legislation and, for this, we are grateful for the guidance and technical support,” he said.
He also emphasised the need for commitments to be met. “You can have the best pieces of legislation or document but, if you do not have people to police these documents it will become a mockery… we want to train and use this document to eradicate irregularities, including child labour,” Gopaul added. He then called on the members of the workers’ unions to join forces to help eradicate child labour.
The ILO officer also praised the ministry for signing the document. He said the ILO DWCP team will continue to support government’s efforts and its social partners to implement the document, particularly in the areas of creating green jobs, enhancing technical and vocational education and training, promoting entrepreneurship education and training, developing cooperatives and strengthening the capacity of employers and workers organisations.
The priorities in the document were formed from three national development frameworks, including the National Development Strategy (2000-2012), the Poverty Reduction Strategy (2001) and the Low Carbon Development Strategy (2009). It was drafted after the ministry convened a national tripartite workshop with its social partners with technical support from ILO in 2010.
According to GINA, the long-term goal of DWCP is to promote low carbon economic activities that generate decent work and sustainable enterprises. Guyana is the tenth country from the Caribbean to sign on to the DWCP.
