Visit by New Director of the ILO's Subregional Office

The new Director of the International Labour Organization's Subregional Office for the Caribbean, Ana-Teresa Romero, Ph.D., along with delegates from the Department of Labour, met with the Directors of BECon and representatives from the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association on the 30th of March. Ana-Teresa Romero was accompanied by Yuka Ujita, M.D., Ph.D., a Technical Officer on Occupational Safety and Health from the ILO Subregional Office for East Asia currently on loan to the ILO Caribbean Subregional Office.

Ana-Teresa Romero informed the employer representatives that she and Dr. Ujita are visiting The Bahamas and the other four Caribbean countries that participated in the ILO sponsored meeting in Port of Spain held in December, 2005. The objective of the December meeting was to create common understanding on the proposed approach to the development and launching of national Occupation Safety and Health programs. Ms. Romero went on to say that the purpose of her and Dr. Ujita's visit is to begin the process of compiling a national Occupation Safety and Health profile in collaboration with the social partners of The Bahamas.

Later that afternoon, four Directors of BECon attended a presentation to the social partners on Occupation Safety and Health by Dr. Ujita in the Governors Room of the British Colonial Hilton. It was interesting to note that Dr. Ujita stressed the importance of employees recognizing their responsibilities when it comes to occupational safety and health.

Employer Representative for Upcoming ILO Meetings

Pauline Petty, a Director of BECon, will be attending two upcoming International Labour Organization meetings as the Employer Representative of The Bahamas.

The first will be the Sixteenth American Regional Meeting being held in Brasilia, Brazil from the 2nd to the 5th of May. Every four years the American Regional Meeting brings together the tripartite representatives of ILO member States, together with high level political, economic, social and labour participants.

The second will be the 95th Session of the International Labour Conference being held in Geneva, Switzerland from the 31st of May through the 16th of June. Each year the member States of the ILO meet at this Conference, which is often called "an international parliament of labour".

At ILO meetings, each member state is represented by a delegation consisting of two government delegates, an employer delegate, a worker delegate, and their respective advisers. Every delegate has the same rights and all can express themselves freely and vote as they wish, therefore it happens that worker and employer delegates sometimes vote against their government's representatives or against each other. This diversity of viewpoints however does not prevent decisions from being adopted by very large majorities, or in some cases even unanimously.

As a tripartite organization, the ILO has an Employer division from which BECon receives a great deal of technical support. In addition, BECon is a member of both the regional Caribbean Employers Confederation and the worldwide International Organization of Employers.

Status of T.V. Arnett

From mid December of last year Mr. T.V. Arnett, the Executive Director of BECon, has been on extended medical leave. For years Mr. Arnett faithfully represented Bahamian employers in the national, regional and international arenas. He is very well respected by his colleagues in The Bahamas, in the Caribbean Employers Confederation, in the International Organization of Employers and in the International Labour Organization.

The absence of his presence in the day to day activities of the Confederation is sorely missed, but although he is down, T.V. is definitely not out as he still keeps his fingers on the pulse of industrial relations. Concern, sympathy, well wishes, thoughts and prayers from many of BECon's members have been expressed for T.V. Arnett.

Status of BECon's Day to Day Administration

The Directors of BECon have stepped up to the plate in order to fill the void caused by the medical leave of the Executive Director. BECon's telephone number 328-5719, which was out of service for awhile, is now back in service. Although we currently do not have the manpower to answer the phone on a regular basis, the answering machine is checked daily for messages. The fax, number 322-4649, and email, becon@bahamasemployers.org, are also checked daily while our Post Office Box N-166 is checked at least three times a week.

BECon's accounting is being brought up to date, its web site relaunched, and the Directors are striving to ensure that BECon's mandate of representing the Bahamian employer at national, regional and international levels is achieved. In addition the Directors, who each have diverse experience and expertise, have committed themselves to provide to you, our members, information, suggestions and advice regarding your employment issues. Simply call, fax, mail, or email your concerns.

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