It has been quite some time since the last Bahamas Employers Confederation News Bulletin was issued. Although BECon's activities and views have been reported in the local media, i.e. newspapers and television, its Board of Directors has determined that the best way of keeping our membership informed is through News Bulletins issued at least monthly. During the coming months BECon's News Bulletins will focus not only on current events, but will include background information on items of interest.

The TRIFOR Committee

Government re-established TRIFOR (a contraction of TRIpartite FORum) by the forming of a National Tripartite Committee of employer representatives, worker representatives, and government (by way of the Labour Department) on the 9th of August, 2007. The initial TRIFOR Committee meetings were held weekly and were devoted exclusively to the formation of proposed amendments to the Employment Act scheduled to be presented to government at an all day TRIFOR Conference open to the public on the 22nd of October, 2007.

The employer and worker representatives were not able to reach consensus on proposed amendments so the agenda of the October TRIFOR Conference was changed to education only with employer and worker representatives presenting their respective positions on proposed amendments to the Employment Act. After the TRIFOR Conference the wholesale review of labour legislation was put on the backburner and more focus was placed on areas where common ground existed. The frequency of the TRIFOR Committee Meetings was changed from weekly to every other week.

Since the beginning of this year three recurring items have remained on the TRIFOR Committee agenda; i) employment of children, ii) use of biometric devices for security and time keeping purposes, and iii) The Bahamas Decent Work Country Programme.

Employment of children is currently illegal in The Bahamas as a result of the expiration of the First Schedule of the Employment Act that allowed the employment of children in a few categories of work. It is planned to hold town meetings to bring together parents and teachers to discuss this topic in order to determine whether the employment of children should be allowed. The use of biometric fingerprint scanners as time keeping and security devices is considered a "grey area" by the Department of Labour due to the section of the Employment Act that prohibits the taking of fingerprints. Employers recognize that biometric devices are becoming more and more prevalent in the world of work and do not see a conflict in the use of these devices with the Employment Act. The Bahamas Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP), signed on the 10th of April, 2008, is a program sponsored by the International Labour Organization (ILO) Subregional Office for the Caribbean with the aim of promoting decent and productive work. More information on the DWCP will be provided in our News Bulletin next month.

Advisory Council for Health and Safety

When the Health and Safety at Work Act, 2002 came into effect on the 1st of February, 2002, except for the heightened awareness of health and safety in the workplace, there was not much to it. The real meat of the Act will come from Regulations and Codes of Practice. The Act provides for an Advisory Council for Health and Safety whose function is to produce the Regulations and Codes of Practice for the Act.

The Advisory Council, chaired by BECon Director Pauline Petty, has done a lot of work in this regard. Before the Regulations and Codes of Practice can come into effect they must be approved by the Minister, and then passed by Parliament.

BECon's Involvement in Coalitions

BECon is currently a member of two coalitions, the National Coalition for Heath Care Reform and the Coalition for Education Reform. Although neither of these coalitions have been in the public eye recently, they are both still active. Both coalitions are still trying to engage government on a meaningful level, unfortunately without success so far.

Workplace Policy and Programme on HIV and AIDS

The Bahamas is invited to participate in a regional initiative to promote, coordinate and monitor the implementation of a Workplace Policy and Programme on HIV and AIDS in public and private sector enterprises throughout the region. This programme is sponsored by the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) in collaboration with the Pan Caribbean Business Coalition against HIV and AIDS (PCBC), the Caribbean Employers' Confederation (CEC), the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), and the International Labour Organization (ILO) acting within the framework of the Caribbean Tripartite Council on HIV and AIDS (CTC).

This initiative is intended to align with the objectives of national HIV/AIDS response and advance the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS in each country. The centrality of this initiative in preventing the spread and mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS in the workplace, as well as advancing industrial health and productivity is very well documented.

The Bahamas is asked to secure the commitment of ten Bahamian enterprises to be involved in institutionalizing an HIV/AIDS Workplace Programme. If your organization would like to participate in this initiative please contact BECon via telephone, fax or email.

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