ILO and PSI team up to conduct online seminar for Caribbean Trade Unions to raise awareness on ILS and ILO Supervisory Mechanisms
The purpose of the event was to provide an overview on ILO standards and promote a better understanding on the key role of trade unions in ILO regular supervisory mechanism.
On 29 June 2022, the ILO DWT/Office for the Caribbean, supported by the ILO HQ and Public Services International1, conducted an online seminar for Caribbean Trade Unions with a focus on the public sector aimed at raising awareness on International Labour Standards (ILS) and ILO Supervisory Mechanisms.
The seminar was attended by 56 participants from across the Caribbean, including Haiti.
The purpose of the event was to provide an overview on ILO standards and promote a better understanding on the key role of trade unions in ILO regular supervisory mechanism.
The presentations by ILO Specialists were followed by a panel discussion with representatives from four public sector trade unions who shared the benefits of their work with the ILO as well as the challenges that they are facing. Among the challenges shared were the lack of resources, including time and people, to be able to closely follow-up on all the developments; the lack of social dialogue space; and general awareness of the different processes and procedures.
Dialogue with the participants confirmed these gaps and revealed the urgent need for more awareness raising efforts by the ILO and trade unions.
ILS are legal instruments drawn up by governments, employers and workers, setting out basic principles and rights at work. ILS have been the principal means through which the ILO has acted since its creation to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity.
ILS are backed up by a system of supervision to address all the types of problems arising in their application at the national level. ILO supervisory bodies are unique at the international level and help to ensure that countries implement the Conventions that they ratify, and if any problems in the application of standards are revealed, that the ILO seeks to assist countries through social dialogue and technical assistance.
The ILO Centenary Declaration reaffirms that the setting, promotion, ratification, and supervision of international labour standards is of fundamental importance to the ILO. As countries strive to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, standards provide a tried and trusted normative foundation to guide member States in building back better and rendering economies and societies more resilient, fair, and inclusive.
It is of the utmost importance for trade unions to be able to use ILS and the ILO supervisory mechanisms strategically and considering this, the ILO DWT/Office for the Caribbean will continue to support trade unions in the area of ILS.
1. Public Services International is a Global Union Federation of more than 700 trade unions representing 30 million workers across a range of key public sectors in 154 countries.
The seminar was attended by 56 participants from across the Caribbean, including Haiti.
The purpose of the event was to provide an overview on ILO standards and promote a better understanding on the key role of trade unions in ILO regular supervisory mechanism.
The presentations by ILO Specialists were followed by a panel discussion with representatives from four public sector trade unions who shared the benefits of their work with the ILO as well as the challenges that they are facing. Among the challenges shared were the lack of resources, including time and people, to be able to closely follow-up on all the developments; the lack of social dialogue space; and general awareness of the different processes and procedures.
Dialogue with the participants confirmed these gaps and revealed the urgent need for more awareness raising efforts by the ILO and trade unions.
ILS are legal instruments drawn up by governments, employers and workers, setting out basic principles and rights at work. ILS have been the principal means through which the ILO has acted since its creation to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity.
ILS are backed up by a system of supervision to address all the types of problems arising in their application at the national level. ILO supervisory bodies are unique at the international level and help to ensure that countries implement the Conventions that they ratify, and if any problems in the application of standards are revealed, that the ILO seeks to assist countries through social dialogue and technical assistance.
The ILO Centenary Declaration reaffirms that the setting, promotion, ratification, and supervision of international labour standards is of fundamental importance to the ILO. As countries strive to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, standards provide a tried and trusted normative foundation to guide member States in building back better and rendering economies and societies more resilient, fair, and inclusive.
It is of the utmost importance for trade unions to be able to use ILS and the ILO supervisory mechanisms strategically and considering this, the ILO DWT/Office for the Caribbean will continue to support trade unions in the area of ILS.
1. Public Services International is a Global Union Federation of more than 700 trade unions representing 30 million workers across a range of key public sectors in 154 countries.