Her Excellency Dame Marguerite Pindling, Governor General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas signs the National Tripartite Council Bill 2014 during a Courtesy Call by delegates of the Ninth International Labour Organization Meeting of the Caribbean Ministers of Labour on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Present for the signing at Government House were: Edison Sumner, CEO, Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation; Chanelle Brown, Senior Assistant Secretary, Minister of Labour and National Insurance; John Pinder, President, Bahamas Public Service Union; Giovianni di Cola, Director, ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean; Guy Ryder, Secretary General, ILO; Dame Marguerite; Christian Ramos Veloz, Senior Advisor, Officer of the Director, ILO; Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson, General Secretary, NCTUB; and Althea Albury, Senior Deputy Director of Labour, Department of Labour.
(BIS Photos/Letisha Henderson)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas -- A move towards
enhancing labour relations in the country came to fruition with the signing of
the National Tripartite Council Bill 2014 into law by Her Excellency Dame
Marguerite Pindling, Governor General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Dame Marguerite signed the much-anticipated piece of legislation during a
Courtesy Call at Government House by delegates of the Ninth International
Labour Organization Meeting of the Caribbean Ministers of Labour on Tuesday,
March 3, 2015.
Present for the historic signing were: Guy
Ryder, Secretary General of the ILO; Giovanni di Cola, Director, ILO Office and Decent
Work Team for the Caribbean; Christian Ramos Veloz, Senior Advisor,
Office of the ILO; Edison Sumner, CEO, Bahamas Chamber of Commerce
and Employers Confederation; Brown, Senior Assistant Secretary, Minister of
Labour and National Insurance; John Pinder, President, Bahamas Public Services
Union; Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson, General Secretary, NCTUB; and Althea Albury, Senior
Deputy Director of Labour, Department of Labour.
The National Tripartite Council Bill passed
in Parliament this year calls for the establishment of a Council comprising the
government, employers and workers.
The Government is expecting a recommendation
for a new minimum wage to be introduced, according to Minister of Labour the
Hon. Shane Gibson.
He confirmed that the members of the National
Tripartite Council have been named and will be submitting recommendations on
labour matters going forward.
Mr. Gibson said he urged members of the
council to submit those recommendations as soon as possible in order for him to
make formal presentation to Cabinet for a final decision to be made on what
that minimum wage should be. The minimum wage is presently $150 a week.
The council is made up of two representatives
from the National Congress of Trade Unions and one from the Trade Union
Congress, three representatives from the Employer’s Confederation in the
Chamber of Commerce and three representatives from the Government.
The functions and powers of the Council are
to practice and promote tripartism in The Bahamas through cooperation,
consultation, negotiation and compromise of the social partners in order to
create and shape social and economic policies and programmes.
The Council would also advise the government
on the formulation of national policies and strategies on all aspects of
labour, productivity, quality and competition; review and advise the government
on ILO matters and conference agendas; and examine and re-examine at
appropriate intervals ILO Conventions and Recommendations that have not been
ratified or implemented and recommend appropriate measures for the promotion of
their ratification and implementation.
Other functions of the Council would be to
advise the government on labour and industrial matters, promote training and
education of all social partners, foster harmonious working relations and build
trust among social partners, review legislation and make recommendations for
amendment or codification of the same, create and promulgate a national
development strategy on labour and industrial relations, amongst other things.
The Council is to be funded from sums as may
be voted for the purposes of the Council by Parliament. And, all employers’
organizations, workers’ organizations and the government in its capacity as a social
partner, shall contribute, as the Council may determine, to any additional
funding required by the Council.
Furthermore, the Council executive is the
governing body and shall perform the functions and exercise the powers of the
Council. The Council may employ the necessary personnel to carry out its
functions and operations.
The Minister shall communicate to the Council
the policy of the Government on issues and matters concerning labour and
industrial relations.
The Council executive shall meet monthly and
the chairman as deemed necessary may call any additional meetings. Officers of the Council executive shall be
eligible for re-election for a further non-consecutive term of three years; the
chairman shall be eligible to serve a maximum of two consecutive terms of three
years. The Council shall pay a Council executive member a stipend per annum as
determined by the Council.