IGDS: Yes to ‘Hire Pro’ but..

An IGDS statement yesterday endorsed the Ministry of Labour’s proposal for truck jobs, but said persons involved in such scheme and their families must have their life choices protected by a policy devised by the Ministry.

“The IGDS commends the Government for partnering with the Canadian company Hire Pro Drivers in a bid to address increasing levels of unemployment at home. Institutional arrangements must be established to ensure that the needs of local dependent households are satisfied in the absence of those persons employed in Canada,” said IDGS.

“Simultaneously, the human rights of individuals relocating for work must be protected.

Consequently, conditions for decent work must form an integral part of the dialogue between government and foreign business in a plan such as this.” The institute said women in TT have had lower levels of employment that men, with International Labour Organisation (ILO) data for 2015 showing the Labour Force Participation Rate at 50 percent for women and 71 percent for men.

Likewise the 2010 unemployment rate was 5.2 percent for males, and 7.0 percent for women.

“If good public policy addresses unemployment and employment issues, the approach must be one that takes on board the complex interactions of social, political and economic variables that see women, on average, clustering in lower-paying sectors and experiencing higher levels of unemployment,” said IGDS.

They hoped new job options do not reinforce current disadvantages in the sexual division of labour, nor entrench impediments to personal advancement.

“Additionally, with regard to the Ministry of Labour’s ten-point plan to assist the jobless in our society, the IGDS hopes that special attention is paid to gender relations within the home as a means of reducing incidents of gender-based violence.

Periods of austerity demand a peculiar awareness of the threat of incidents of domestic violence, intimate partner violence and abuse.

Public policy initiatives must r