Labour Review Commission Established

On Tuesday of last week, 18th of February, the Prime Minister, the Hon. Perry G. Christie, established our country's first Labour Review Commission. The first mandate of this Commission is to examine the labour laws passed during the beginning of last year and make recommendations within eight weeks. The labour laws referred to are 1) the Employment Act, 2001, enacted on the 1st of January, 2002; 2) the Minimum Wages Act, 2002, enacted on the 21st of January, 2002; and 3) the Health and Safety at Work Act, 2002, enacted on the 1st of February, 2002.

Named to the Labour Review Commission as Employer Representatives were Mr. Brian Nutt, President of the Bahamas Employers Confederation; Mr. Reginald Lobosky, Attorney; Mr. J. Barrie Farrington, Vice-President of Kernzer International; and Mrs. Cyndi Williams, Businesswoman.

Named to the Labour Review Commission as Employee Representatives were Mr. Pat Bain, President of the National Congress of Trade Unions; Mr. Obie Ferguson, President of the Trade Union Congress; Ms. Constance McDonald, Attorney and former Vice-President of the Bahamas Industrial Tribunal; and Mr. Gregory Moss, Attorney.

The Labour Review Commission is Co-Chaired by Mr. Donald Symonette, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Immigration and Mr. Charles Turnquest, a retired Director of Labour. The Secretary of the Commission is Mr. Harcourt Brown, Acting Director of Labour.

The Prime Minister invited the members of the Commission to examine the different effects of particular provisions of our labour legislation, and how they might address current and future market issues that can inevitably impact our competitiveness in an ever-increasing globalized economy.

The first meeting of the Labour Review Commission was held immediately after it was formed, and the second meeting was held today. Any employer who has any concerns on the labour laws is urged to communicate those concerns to BECon via fax, email, or from the Labour Law Concerns web page on BECon's website.

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