Seminar on labour laws begins Monday

LABOUR MINISTER Anthony Roberts will deliver the feature address at the opening ceremony of an ILO meeting entitled “International Labour Stand-ards for Judges, Lawyers and Legal Educators” on Monday at 8:30 am at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Judges from national courts, industrial courts and tribunals, lawyers who represent the interests of workers’ and employers’ organisations, and legal educators in 11 Caricom countries will meet to discuss ways of making full use of the resources of international labour law in their daily practice, contributing to better implementation of international labour standards at the national level. The meeting is being sponsored by the International Training Centre of the ILO and the ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean in collaboration with the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago.

International Labour Standards, which are adopted by governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations from member states of the ILO, provide not only an important point of reference for national legislation but also contribute to strengthening national case law in labour matters. The seminar will cover topics such as the system of  international labour standards, the added value of standards as they  pertain to freedom of association,  collective bargaining and non-discrimination in employment and occupation. The incorporation of international law into national case law and the contribution of comparative law to the scope of the employment relationship will also be discussed.

Facilitators of the seminar are Xavier Beaudonnet from the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin, Italy, and Michele Jankanish, ILO senior specialist, International Labour Standards and Labour Law, ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean. Additional resource persons  include Prof Jeff Cumberbatch, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados; Lennox Marcelle, legal counsel, Ministry of Labour; and Dr Roodal Moonilal, labour consultant and UWI lecturer. Other speakers at the opening ceremony are Addison Khan, president of the Industrial Court; Grace Strachan, director, ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean; Linda Besson, executive secretary/treasurer, Caribbean Congress of Labour; and George DePeana, general secretary, Caribbean Congress of Labour.