Employers’ and workers’ organizations of Trinidad and Tobago identify roadmap for COVID-19 crisis recovery

A call for strengthened national tripartite social dialogue and priority areas for a joint action plan were the outcomes of the most recent COVID-19 bipartite task force meeting between the Employers’ Consultative Association (ECA), the National Trade Union Centre of Trinidad and Tobago (NATUC), the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) and the Transport and Industrial Workers’ Union (TIWU).

Held on 3 November and hosted by ILO Caribbean, the session was a follow up to the bipartite commitment achieved on 22 September between employers’ and workers’ organizations of Trinidad and Tobago to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the crisis and build back more resilient labour markets.

“In this second conversation, we intend to reflect on some of the ideas that you shared and collectively identified as specific activities that could be implemented jointly to make a difference and contribute meaningfully to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and workers,” said Dennis Zulu, Director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean. “The objectives of this session are therefore to develop an action plan to help us chart the way forward to navigate our way out of this devastating socioeconomic crisis and to identify areas where the ILO can provide technical assistance to support the implementation of the action plan.”

Throughout the meeting, representatives from both social partners recognized the power of renewed tripartite social dialogue with the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to achieve concrete solutions. More specifically, they emphasized the value of the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC) in enabling the action plan to tackle labour setbacks caused by the pandemic.

“We see this opportunity as leading us to the arrival of a shared common understanding which is critical,” said Keston Nancoo, Chairman of the ECA, when speaking about the benefit of the bipartite task force. “Crises is what reveals us and this is about leadership. This forum is going to test the quality of leadership that we bring to the table to successfully navigate the challenges brought about by this crisis.”

During the discussion, he presented an initial nine priority areas that employers’ and workers’ representatives could consider addressing through the bipartite action plan:

1. working with government to accelerate the amendments of relevant labour legislation such as the Retrenchment and Severance Benefit Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act;
2. advocate for the finalization of the Minimum Employment Standards to level the playing field and advance the decent work agenda;
3. advocate for stakeholder collaboration on government’s proposed remote work policy;
4. develop an industrial relations toolkit for managing in a crisis;
5. agree on an approach for meeting and treating with small employers who ran afoul of good industrial relations practices and are now facing disputes and litigation;
6. support trade unions in utilizing the Industrial Relations Advisory Committee to reach government on the way forward for the disposing of long-outstanding collective bargaining agreements;
7. identify ways to explore and advocate the introduction of unemployment insurance to address future related crises;
8. discuss findings of the second ECA survey to inform responses to other areas of impact and come to mutually acceptable approach for addressing issues around retrenchment, variation of employment terms, etc.; and
9. lobby lending institutions for more easily accessible financial support for small and medium enterprises and reasonable concessions for borrowers.

“I think there is a commonality between the ECA and the National Trade Union Centre in the context of what is required at this particular time. It is clear that the pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of the disadvantaged and poor in Trinidad and Tobago. The issues of how we address that collectively is fundamental in NATUC’s view,” explained Michael Annisette, General-Secretary of NATUC. “The ILO we are sure has a pivotal role to play in how we transition this period and how we do the transformational changes required in order for us to grapple with these issues we are confronted with on a daily basis,” explained Michael Annisette, General-Secretary of NATUC.

Ozzy Warwick, General-Secretary of the JTUM, suggested six priority issues to help the national labour market cope with the crisis:

1. an agreement on an overarching framework between employers and trade unions to develop fair and reasonable telecommuting policies and guidelines;
2. a collaboration on a COVID-19 framework to address ongoing issues related to the impact of the pandemic on employers and workers;
3. an ILO-facilitated discussion on an unemployment insurance fund;
4. an articulation of the labour legislation issues that both social partners agree on;
5. a shared reaffirmed commitment to collective bargaining by employers and trade unions, achieved through a process facilitated by the ILO and guided by relevant conventions; and
6. concrete guidelines for an effective tripartite process, tailored to the national context of Trinidad and Tobago.

“This process is to try to build some kind of consensus at least between the business community, the employers, as well as labour, in terms of the trade unions. These are areas where we can find common ground for the main aim to improve the quality of life for our members and employees of the business community, and all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago,” he explained.

“We need to put systems in place to avert what is happening and to build a better community for all of our members and workers throughout Trinidad and Tobago and the world by extension, because I know it’s not just happening to workers in Trinidad and Tobago,” said Judy Charles, President of TIWU.

During the final portion of the meeting, participants were organized in two breakout sessions to discuss proposed priority areas in detail and articulate the positions of employers’ and workers’ organizations to advance the development of the joint action plan.

“From the employers’ side, there is an agreement to work on issues related to labour legislation. There is also recognition of the work done over the years in terms of amendments to labour legislation. However, as Mr Warwick also proposed, there have been areas of agreement identified and agreed to by workers and employers. It would be great to fast track to reach a conclusion of areas of agreement to get going,” said Vanessa Phala, ILO Senior Employers Activities Specialist in her summary.

She also noted that the employers’ representatives identified the ILO as playing a key role in assisting both parties to develop their COVID-19 recovery framework by taking into account the context of Trinidad and Tobago for a more effective social dialogue mechanism.

“Concerning collective bargaining, employers agreed in principle of its importance in democracy as the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago recognizes the right to collective bargaining. However, employers also spoke about lack of clarity where workers are not unionized indicating an opportunity to create guidelines issues such as minimum employment standards, wage standards, hours of work and teleworking,” continued Vanessa Phala.

Strengthening lobbying and advocacy efforts by working together to influence the outcome of certain processes was also an area that employers identified to address joint issues of concern related to COVID-19.

Speaking on the outcomes from the workers’ organizations session, Michael Annisette highlighted the following four recommendations to create tangible changes:

1. taking a legislative approach to strengthening labour agenda through an amendment to the Retrenchment and Severance Benefit Act that protects workers who are affected by business closures;
2. achieving commonality on telecommuting so that it is not left up to individual employers and union to address;
3. ensuring the adequacy of the unemployment policy, which does not reflect realities of workers who have been affected by COVID-19; and
4. issuing a joint statement that emphasizes the right to collective bargaining through social dialogue to find meaning and full resolutions.

The bipartite task force meeting concluded with an assurance of the development of the action plan to address the impacts of COVID-19, as well as ILO support for an integrated implementation that achieves a sustainable and more resilient recovery.