Industrial Court looks at post-pandemic labour market

The Industrial Court recently hosted its flagship Meet the Court symposium which looked at industrial relations and the global labour market.

Now in its seventh year, the symposium was held last weekend at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

A release from the court said the event provides a platform for stakeholders and experts to discuss current issues while encouraging participants to engage in open discussion on the industrial relations climate and to discuss trends in the labour market.

This year, the theme looked at the labour market and industrial relations post-covid19.

President of the Industrial Court Deborah Thomas-Felix said before the pandemic, the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Global Commission on the Future of Work was established to undertake an in-depth examination of the future of work that can provide the analytical basis for the delivery of social justice in the 21st century.

She said the covid19 pandemic propelled the Caribbean into the digital age and into extensive reform of working methods.

“Post-pandemic, there are several converging trends which have profound impacts on all aspects of work, this, of course, has implications for employees, unions, businesses and society in general.”

Also speaking at the symposium, senior economist Dr Shelton Nicholls looked at post-pandemic global economic trends and their implications for the labour market in TT, underscoring some critical concerns.

He also discussed the potential for an increase in informal employment; a slower pace of growth in labour productivity; reduced job prospects for young people; growing skill mismatch and change in corporate skill mix; widening of the gender pay gap; and the re-emergence of stagflation.

He concluded with several policy recommendations.

Barbados Justice of Appeal, Justice Jefferson Cumberbatch addressed the significance of collective bargaining through social dialogue.

He pointed out that “the right to collective bargaining is a fundamental right endorsed by members of the ILO on joining the organisation which they have an obligation to respect, to promote and to realise in good faith.

The ILO’s Shingo Miyake explored remote work and highlighted the benefits and challenges for employers and workers as well as the impact on legislation, contracts and collective agreements and on labour administration, workers’ organisations and employers’ organisations.