Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations, Colin Jordan, greets Chief Executive Officer of House of Deals, Robert Mansour, during the tour today. (A. Reid/BGIS)

Minister of Labour, Colin Jordan, and a team from the Labour Department today concluded their tour of workplaces with a visit to several stores in Tudor Street and Swan Street.

Pointing out that he thought it was a good time to understand what workers were experiencing within these establishments, Minister Jordan said the tours had spanned business operations such as hotels, restaurants, offshore data processing, manufacturing operations, and information technology companies, with the most recent being a visit to a stone quarry and the Arawak Cement Plant.

Of the visit to Tudor Street, he stressed this was particularly important, as he recalled the Campus Trendz tragedy of September 3, 2010. 

He said: “On Tudor Street, where we have had a tragedy that would have unfolded about nine years ago, I think it is important to have come through as the Minister responsible, just to, on a random basis, check to see the conditions under which people work.

“Sometimes, people don’t learn lessons; countries don’t learn lessons and you have a situation where you have a tragedy, but there is no benefit coming out of it; there are no lessons learnt.  And, it is to make sure that workers who now populate the business places in Bridgetown, Tudor Street and Swan Street in particular…have the benefit of knowing that they are working in a safe and healthy environment.”

The Minister, who is also responsible for Social Partnership Relations, added that safety and health at work was a priority of the Labour Department and as such it was about being assured that “those who were victims of the tragedy would not have lost their lives in vain”.

The workplace tours were in keeping with The Safety and Health At Work Act, which guides how workers should function, and be treated with regard to their safety, health and general welfare.

The Minster and his team visited House of Deals, FusionZ, and Abed’s, among others.  Store managers and employees received pamphlets and brochures on the Shops Act and the country’s labour legislation and regulations.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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