The CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is a unique and strategic tool for allowing the Caribbean Community to reposition its economies in order to compete effectively in a globalizing world. The Single Market will involve the removal of all restrictions on the movement of goods, the provision of services, the flow of capital, the establishment of enterprises and the movement of people, and it is envisioned that this single market component will be implemented by all Member States by the end of 2005. Furthermore the Single Caribbean Economy, whose creation will arguably involve a far more complex process will necessitate the creation of new regional institutions in respect of matters such as Accreditation, Standards and Competition to support the implementation of important new regional sectoral policies.
Within the context of any truly effective single market, the free movement of people is a fundamental prerequisite. The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas speaks to this objective in a number of different ways. In the first instance the Revised Treaty addresses the mobility of labour within the context of the "right of establishment". In this regard Articles 32 to 34 prescribe the removal of restrictions on the right of establishment for self-employed persons who may be involved in commercial, industrial, agricultural, professional or artisanal activity. In pursuit of that right of establishment, the Revised Treaty also requires the removal of restrictions on the movement of managerial, technical and supervisory staff of economic enterprises and of establishing agencies, branches and subsidiaries of companies and other entities established in the Community. Under the Revised Treaty, these same categories of persons also have certain associated rights which allow them non-discriminatory access to land, capital, buildings and property.
In the second instance the Revised Treaty, at Article 46, commits member states to a phased approach to labour mobility for wage earners. As such, member states have agreed to allow the free movement of five categories of workers which are university graduates, media workers, sportspersons, artistes and musicians. An integral component of this provision is the harmonization and transferability of social security rights, the elimination of the requirement for passports for Community nationals and the establishment of mechanisms for certifying and establishing equivalency of degrees and for accrediting institutions. For all of the above provisions member states are required to establish reciprocal agreements amongst themselves. Thus far, approximately one thousand workers have moved into Barbados under Article 46.
The early harvest that the CSME is capable of bringing is likely to take the form of the employment benefits that will ensue to the 'ordinary' man and woman in the Caribbean as a result of the removal of restrictions on the movement of people, and the new businesses that they will create as self-employed entrepreneurs. For the first time these people can enjoy the right to establish their own enterprises, on terms available and open to all, wherever in the region they choose. Indeed these provisions lay the foundation for facilitating the development of pan-Caribbean companies through the movement of these workers.
Regionally there is the tendency for CARICOM member states to base their national development efforts on the quality of their human resources and social capital. It goes therefore without saying that the opportunity to have access to a regional pool of human resources greatly enhances the prospects of all participating economies in the CSME in their endeavour to build new, more competitive enterprises to world standards. It also offers the exciting prospect of widening the horizon of economic opportunity that is to be available in the future to the 'ordinary' Caribbean man and woman.
While providing for freedom of movement is important from an economic perspective, due regard must also be taken of the full social agenda. The provision of freedom of movement will eventually be accompanied by measures of equivalent strength to harmonise working conditions, strengthen the regimes for social protection, ensure region-wide safety and health in the workplace, assure a safe place for the physical challenged, persons living with HIV/AIDS and other disabilities in our workplace, provide training for all, and make genuine consultation with the workers and their representatives an essential aspect of a new governance for these new times.
It is important that the CSME delivers opportunities for decent work in a sustainable environment. This decent work will only be created by combining employment rights, social protection and social dialogue into a wider framework of a regional development strategy. The creation of a single economic space in the Caribbean, must therefore embrace a process which seeks to decrease the "decent work deficit" wherever it exists, and which maintains a commitment to the respect for workers' rights and the fair treatment of workers without regard to nationality, socio-economic background or race.
These two principles are central to any effort at enhancing the competitiveness and productivity of our regional workforce. They also take into account the need to protect the welfare of vulnerable groups of workers in Caribbean societies such as non-unionized workers, workers with disabilities, the youth and unskilled persons who may be subject to exploitation from unscrupulous employers. It is necessary that we in the Caribbean establish and maintain a region-wide approach to the creation of highest labour standards throughout all the CARICOM territories.
The Revised Treaty also speaks to the issue of the promotion and maintenance of harmonious industrial relations within the Community. In this regard, members of the Community commit themselves, through the Council for Human and Social Development to the objectives of full employment, improved working conditions, adequate social security policies and programmes, tripartite consultations among governments, workers' and employers' organizations and cross border mobility of labour. The Council is further mandated to promote recognition of the principle of non-discriminatory treatment among Community workers in the pursuit of employment within the Community.
In this regard the Caribbean has a rich and proud history in its recognition and protection of workers' rights and welfare, and to date most CARICOM member states have ratified core labour standards. That notwithstanding, the integration process cannot be furthered without a clearly defined framework for social dialogue and the evolution of a truly regional social partnership which is now being replicated across the membership of CARICOM through the establishment and institutionalization of Business and Labour Advisory Committees at the national level. These Business and Labour Advisor Committees are motivated by the consistent success of Barbados' own Social Partnership.
In spite of the relative institutional stability of industrial relations in the Caribbean countries, the twin effect of fiercer external competition and the resultant domestic labour market restructuring will lead potentially, to growing strains within national systems and the possible erosion of trade union membership. Trade unions must therefore seize the opportunity to develop initiatives which seek to renew and modernize their structures, organization and recruitment strategies in order to have a more vital role for the labour movement in the creation and effective functioning of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.
Furthermore, it is the unions across this region that must assert a more decisive role in the shaping of workers' attitudes towards the CSME, for the success and effectiveness of this change depends ultimately on its being embraced by the workforce. In this regard it must be noted that the Labour Movement has an outstanding record of providing the type of leadership in the past which has enabled us to build the modern Caribbean society. The region is depending on a strong labour movement now more than ever.
The evolution of the single market and economy will not be without its challenges. A major issue which Caribbean governments will have to confront as the labour market is liberalized is that of contingent rights. These refer to rights to which member citizens are entitled when they exercise the option to work in another member state and there is the need to institute a satisfactory regime to govern these. Thus far, the Revised Treaty has addressed the provision of these rights only with respect to land, capital, buildings and property and relating specifically to the right of establishment. At the same time work is ongoing on the other areas particularly related to social benefits.
The emergence of the frontier worker also raises an issue which needs to be addressed. These are individuals who will reside in one country while working in another and this new category of worker is already a reality in Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica. It results from a situation where as a result of the increasingly regional presence of major companies, managerial and technical staff may leave one member state and go to another to work for as little as a day or as long as a week and then home.
As the numbers in this category of worker increase, consideration will have to be given to a special scheme of rights to facilitate their movement. Such persons will no doubt be faced with practical problems related not only to social security and social advantages but also to income taxation and retirement. The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and its relevant implementation procedures do not yet speak to this category of worker.
The negotiation of a protocol to address these contingent rights as described above will be one of the more complex undertakings at the regional level. The business community, and the country generally, should however be assured that Barbados' position on this matter at the regional level will only be articulated after the widest possible consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
The matter of providing scope for the full mobility of labour within CARICOM, cannot be accommodated without an appreciation of the necessity of the creation of a Regional Development Fund as a mechanism through social and economic convergence within this region can be attained.
It is no secret that there are some member states which are more developed and which possess immediately the institutional, productive and human resources to take full advantage of the provisions of the CSME. There are others which do not. Barbados, possessed of a strong comparative advantage in services, can conceivably benefit more from the liberalization of the regional market for services than its immediate neighbours. Equally we are all well aware of Trinidad & Tobago's regional dominance in the trade of goods for the last decade.
This state of affairs if allowed to continue without a concerted effort to facilitate a process of catching up in the less developed countries of the region will inevitably produce a polarized single market where there is uneven amassing of the liberalized workforce in those locations, within the integrated area, that attain the greatest level of development, to the distinct and sustained detriment of the lesser developed members. A Regional Development Fund therefore would finance programmes that spur the social and economic development of the lesser developed members of the community. There is no doubt that such a fund is an absolutely necessary component of the effort to have harmonious, people-focused, labour-driven development ensue from the operation of the CSME in December 2005.
The manner in which the provision of the CSME relating to movement of our nationals is crafted has clearly reflected a conceptual bias towards treating our nationals as economic operators only. This concept is too limited. Labour mobility must not be promulgated and addressed in a social policy vacuum.
For us in the Caribbean, we must all be mindful that the free movement of labour does not merely represent a means to an end. It has at its core, the goal of promoting a programme of sustainable job creation and the collective enhancement of the skills-base of our workforce in an environment which ensures adherence to the highest labour standards.
Written by The Rt. Hon. Owen Arthur, Prime Minister, Barbados
Reproduced from Business Barbados 2006 with the permission of Caribbean Business Publications.
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