Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 18, 2019 (SKNIS): Senior Minister and Minister of Labour, the Honourable Vance Amory, said that it is important for the private sector to play its part in creating jobs for future generations during his address to the General Assembly at the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, June 18.
“It is imperative that the private sector becomes a leading partner in investing in the creation of new jobs for the future,” said Senior Minister Amory. “It is also necessary that all workers are accorded the dignity and social protection which is necessary for them to enjoy a good quality of life, earn a living wage, and be able to provide the basic needs for a decent standard of living for their families and to have some savings for the future.”
He said that workers must remain a key focus in the changing environment.
“This is a challenge for the future of work that workers must feel that their participation in the economic activity in their country and the world is valued and they are able to share equitably in the economic benefits generated by their skills and by their labour,” said the Senior Minister.
Equally important, Senior Minister Amory stated that the youth population should also be taken into consideration.
“Mr. Chairman, the future of work must also focus on our young people and seek to identify their talents and their skills and entrepreneurial capacities to become self-employed using the technology which already exists and we as governments to provide the support with resources to develop their new avenues of employment for the future,” he said.
Senior Minister Amory’s address forms part of the Centenary Session, which runs from June 10-21, 2019, in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference, also known as the “world parliament of labour,” is being attended by approximately 6,000 delegates representing governments, workers, and employers from the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 187 member states.
Senior Minister Amory is accompanied by several members of the National Tripartite Committee including Ron Dublin-Collins, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, and Lucinda Francis, Head of the Employment Unit in the Department of Labour, representing the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis. Emile Ferdinand and Sydney Bridgewater are representing employers and workers respectively.
