As Barbados readies itself for trade liberalisation and the CSME in particular, one of the topics of great interest to the business community and the country at large is the question of labour.
Although international trade agreements do not specifically focus on labour issues, it is clear that the result of labour relations will have an impact on the business community and by extension labour.
The purpose of this article, therefore, is to identify some of the issues affecting the labour force as Barbados participates in the various trade negotiating fora.
It should be noted, at the onset, that labour is not a discrete or formal topic within the negotiations and does not command a chapter in any of the international trade agreements.
To date, there is no ministerial instruction to link trade and labour in any of the negotiations. Notwithstanding the above, it is has been agreed that labour is a significant factor in any developmental process.
Two of the major negotiating fora, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), have acknowledged this in their Ministerial Declarations.
The Quito Ministerial Declaration of the FTAA and the WTO Doha Declaration (2002) both propose to recognise, observe and promote core labour standards, but give no instruction to plan, implement or enforce labour standards within the actual agreements.
It must be noted that most of the ministers, especially those from the developing countries, expressed some concern about labour issues becoming enshrined in the agreements. They argue that labour issues could potentially be used as a basis for sanctions or to create trade barriers against them.
Only advantage
Furthermore, low cost labour may be their only advantage, and they should not be denied the ability to use this advantage.
At the regional level, the CARICOM integration arrangements cover the issue of labour more than any of the other trade agreements.
Under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramus, which sets out the framework for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), provision has been made for the free movement of certain categories of persons. This is done with two key objectives in mind.
The first is to support ﾓthe right of establishmentﾔ i.e. that a company can move around the skills it needs, to start and run (new) operations.
The second is that CARICOM (with the exception of The Bahamas) will be treated as a single labour market so that employers can draw from a wider pool of labour and persons can seek employment throughout the community.
At the hemispheric level, there is reason to believe that the FTAA may also have to consider the impact of labour more directly in the final agreement.
This is because developments in the United States have linked the issue of trade and labour. As recently as May this year a federation of American trade unions made a presentation to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society in FTAA.
The heart of their argument is that, ﾓUnless the FTAA includes enforceable protections for core workersﾴ rights, we are likely to see the same kinds of job loss, wage depression, and rights violations throughout the hemisphere under the FTAA that have characterised NAFTA[North American Free Trade Agreement].ﾔ
In fact they propose that: ﾓ. . . Adequate enforcement of each countryﾴs own labour laws should be a condition of entry into FTAAﾔ.
Core concerns
More recently on August 13, the American deputy trade representative writing in the Washington Post stated that in approving the 2002 United States Trade Bill, Congress indicated that labour standards should be at the core of American concerns in its Free
Trade Agreements.
This was reflected in Americaﾴs recent trade agreements with Chile and Singapore, which include a ﾓdispute-settlement procedure that consists of consultations, fines and — as a last resort ﾖ the suspension of favoured market accessﾔ.
We in Barbados have accepted the International Lending Organisation core labour standards and therefore its inclusion in trade agreements is unlikely to be a contentious issue for us.
However, there are enterprise level issues, which must be faced. These stem from the need to respond to the new competition. Issues such as recruitment geography, terms of employment, worker representation, skills development and productivity enhancement will be important.
There will also be labour force issues as Barbados continues to participate in an increasingly liberalised environment.
These issues include job security, worker rights, career path development, productivity measures, work place standards and a possible downward push on wage settlements in Barbados.
Therefore, even though the international trade arrangements do not formally link labour and trade, it is clear that when these agreements are implemented labour, will become a critical issue for the business community and policy makers.
The Barbados Daily Nation
