Labour Code Changes Questioned

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Friday, 22 February 2013 02:30

By caribarena news

‪‬Antigua St. John's - The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Board’s continued failure to meet with an established quorum appears to have forced some members to make an “official board decision” to submit the proposed draft amended Labour Code to the minister without review and ratification.

Documents reaching Caribarena after a sitting of the board on January 15 outlined actions that some in the industrial relations fraternity have labelled “unlawful.”

According to the minutes tabled by Board Executive Secretary Hesketh Williams, only six of 12 board members were present, with two absent and four excused.

“Though it is the desire of the Board to review the work done by the select committee, due to the failed attempts at meeting, all members present agreed to submit the draft of the amended Labour Code, without further review, to the Minister,” Williams recounted in the minutes.

These un-scrutinized amendments were tabled in Parliament and read for the first time in late January.

According to a senior labour official, “There can be no doubt that if there is no quorum, then no legal decisions could be made.”

The official therefore questioned the validity of the document tabled in the House of Representatives and circulated among MPs for perusal and future debate.

After the January 15 meeting, another sitting was held on February 19, with the main focus being “the ratification of the proposed amendments to the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code.” This meeting had a quorum, with 10 members present.

“Members on the National Labour Board seems to want to shut the door when the horse have already bolted. What a joke,” the official said.

Board member and General Secretary of the ATLU Alrick Daniel suggested at the second meeting that the various organisations represented on the board should be given another two weeks or so to further scrutinize the document and file their final objections and suggestions they might have on specific clauses.

This proposal was, however, shot down, with members pointing out that the document had been circulated to members since November 2012, which was more than enough time.

Chairman of the board Pedro Corbin then reportedly recommended that the board proceed to ratify the document “and at the same time give the organisations time to make submissions on areas of concern that they might still have.”

Daniel objected to this, while expressing concern about the ratification of a document without the full agreement of the board.

The ratification nonetheless went ahead.

The breakdown of the votes based on information received is as follows:

In favour:  Henderson Bass; Pedro Corbin; Sharon Knight; Eltonia Rojas; Doristeen Etinoff & Charmain Simon.
Against: Alrick Daniel; Sen. David Massiah.
Abstained: Clarence Crump.

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Crump was part of the Special Committee to look at the amendments and his move to abstain has raised eyebrows and brought questions about what position he actually took in the Committee.

“The National Labour Board with a full quorum has since ratified the amendments,” was the response when Caribarena enquired as to whether the document which was tabled in the House, before ratification by the board, posed any difficulty.  

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