Minister of Labour, Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo??

Government is working assiduously to ensure that Occupational Safety and Health legislation is soon passed.

This assurance has come from Minister of Labour, Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo, who stressed that this was a priority for her Ministry as Government sought to provide a safe and supportive environment for all workers.

Speaking at the launch of the Barbados Workers’ Union’s (BWU) May Day celebrations at the BWU headquarters, Solidarity House, St. Michael, last weekend, the Labour Minister stressed that Barbadian workplaces needed to put adequate measures in place if they were to become competitive on the world stage.

"A prerequisite for this standing is a healthy labour force. Indeed, a country’s long term social and economic development is dependent on its ability to have access to a labour force which is healthy as well as one that is protected against dangerous practices that are a threat to its safety and health," she explained.

Dr. Byer Suckoo reiterated Barbados’ commitment to the Decent Work Agenda, and revealed that Labour officials were presently fine-tuning a decent work country programme for Barbados with support from the International Labour Organisation.

??"The programme was crafted based on the input from the social partners. A major task for the Ministry will be to facilitate the timely and efficient execution of activities which flow from these programmes. Under my watch, I pledge to ensure that everything is put in place for the successful implementation of the programme, and that both employees and managers benefit from the application of the decent work concept," she promised.

Minister Byer Suckoo also urged union officials to "link hands, not lock horns" with the Ministry to ensure a better Barbados and a stronger industrial relations environment.

askeete@barbados.gov.bb

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