Employment Bill Update

Quite a lot has happened in the ten days since our last news bulletin. A letter was sent to the Prime Minister on Friday morning, August 31st, expressing our concerns regarding the proposed labour bills. The letter requested a meeting with the Prime Minister in order to discuss our concerns, and on Friday evening the Prime Minister called to say that he would meet with employers on Monday, September 3rd.

Also on Friday (August 31st), work began on putting together a full-page advertisement for the newspapers quoting comments of the International Monetary Fund that emphasized the need to carefully analyze the implications of the proposed labour legislation, with statements from BECon agreeing with this point and recommending that the proposed labour bills not be passed.

In addition, an updated draft of the Employment Bill was released. Copies of the latest draft were made on Saturday morning and a meeting was held Sunday afternoon to review the draft. During the review it was discovered that a number of our concerns had been addressed. It was felt however, that enough concerns remained to proceed with the newspaper ad on Thursday as planned.

Nine members of the Coalition technical committee met with the Prime Minister at 6:00pm Monday night. Those who attended on behalf of employers were T. V. Arnett, Frank Comito, Godfrey Lightbourn, Rick Lowe, Brian Nutt, Ralph Massey, Michael Reckley, Edgar Seligman, and Charles Turnquest. In addition to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham, M.P., the Minister of Labour and Immigration, the Hon. Earl Deveaux was in attendance as well as several representatives from the Department of Labour.

The concerns raised in our letter were discussed and the Government was strongly urged to shelve the three remaining labour bills. The position of Government was that these bills were promised in their 1996 Manifesto, and they will be enacted into legislation. As a matter of courtesy the Government representatives were informed that the Coalition would be placing a full-page ad in the newspapers on Thursday stating our position that the remaining labour bills be shelved.

The Prime Minister declared that he was not prepared to negotiate on matters when the other party used the media to present their positions. He stated that he was prepared to discuss and negotiate with employers any provisions of the Employment Bill that presented concerns. A silent decision was made by most of the Coalition representatives to hold off on the advertisement if the discussions with Government representatives on specific issues of the Employment Bill were fruitful.

An honest, frank and open discussion took place during which employers freely expressed their concerns. The Prime Minister presented the employers with a newer version of the Employment Bill than that received the prior Friday, which addressed a couple more of our concerns. Lively interaction took place between the employers, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labour. Several of our concerns were addressed favourably during the meeting and the Government agreed to consider several more of our concerns.

The meeting with the Prime Minister lasted approximately five and one half hours and was felt to be very productive. In light of this, the silent decision to hold the newspaper ad was vocalized and agreed to by the Coalition representatives on the steps outside of the Prime Ministers office after the meeting.

During the meeting with Government, the Minister of Labour was invited to attend the special meeting of employers to be held on Friday, 7th September. Thursday evening the Minister confirmed that he would be able to attend the meeting, stating that he had a Cabinet meeting at 10:00am, and would therefore have to leave at that time.

Shortly after 9:00am on Friday, the special employers meeting got underway at the British Colonial Hilton. Because of Minister Deveaux's time limitation, he was given the floor immediately. The Minister informed the employers that the Employment Bill would be finalized in Cabinet later that day, and be tabled in the House on Monday. He then listed several changes that were being made to the Bill based on concerns raised by employers at the Monday meeting and communications received from the unions. He promised employers that the final draft would be made available later that day, and the promised draft was received.

A few of the substantial concerns that Government agreed to consider at the Monday meeting that were reflected in the changes outlined by the Minister were a phase in period of 44 hours per week for one year before the standard of 40 hours per week is introduced and clear language showing that premium pay for the 6th day is time-and-one-half rather than double time.

During the balance of the employers meeting Mr. Frank Comito presented the results of the economic survey conducted by the Coalition and Mr. Brian Nutt discussed in detail the provisions of the Employment Bill.

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