Preliminary document for discussion
The Emergence and Current State of the Caribbean Community and Common Market
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- 2. SOCIO-LABOURAL ASPECTS OF CARICOM
1.2. The Emergence and Current State of the Caribbean Community and Common MarketMuch of the basis for the current thrust towards a Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) lies in the common history of most of the countries in the region. With the exception of Suriname and Haiti, all have at some point been colonies of England. The enduring effect of this is that all of the Anglophone Caribbean countries have more or less the same sort of Westminster model of government, comprising a lower house of elected representatives and an upper house, which is the senate of appointed legislators. English-speaking countries in the region all are part of what was originally the British Commonwealth, with the British monarchy, being the head of state. Guyana and Trinidad are republics with a president as head of state. However, they have maintained their membership in the union. For in excess of 300 years the region was essentially an extension of the British Empire. As a result, the basic legal framework is strongly influenced by this. Up to the present, British jurisprudence is strongly influential, and cases determined by the courts in the United Kingdom are instructive to local common law. The body of local laws is seen as consistent across the English-speaking countries to the extent that regionally trained lawyers are qualified to practice in any Commonwealth Caribbean country without any further preparation or certification. After 1944, when Universal Adult Suffrage was granted, enabling all citizens to vote, most former colonies were progressively given autonomy over their own affairs. By the end of the 1950s, the quasi-independent territories had begun to forge regional links among themselves. In 1958 the West Indies Federation was formed. Intended to be a political and economic union, much like what the European Union is today, it lasted fours years until the withdrawal of Jamaica in 1962. The largest territory as measured by size of economy and population, Jamaica’s secession was crucial. Although the departure of Jamaica marked the end of the Federation, it did not end the regional thrust. Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Guyana signed a treaty in 1965, forming the core of the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). Two years later the Commonwealth Caribbean had its heads of government meeting in Barbados where it was unanimously agreed that CARIFTA was to come into effect on May 1, 1968. Inasmuch as CARIFTA was inaugurated and became a symbolic bond and confederation, it did not become a union with a common set of guidelines for trade. The penultimate stage in the evolutionary process towards a true regional union began in April 1973 at the Commonwealth Caribbean heads of government conference in Guyana where it was accepted that a Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) should be created. July 4, 1973 saw the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas in Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM became a reality. In 1989, the nations went further towards establishing a regional union when the agreement to put in place a CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) was signed in Grande Anse in Grenada. Underpinned by a need to “...deepen the integration process and strengthen the Caribbean Community in all of its dimensions and to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by the global economy,”2 the CSME’s logic was to create a single economic space. At present there appears to be even greater commitment to the integration process. By 2005 there is expected to be completely free movement of all forms of labour within the region. If this is to take place then the observations made will have to be taken into consideration and the necessary changes made. 2. SOCIO-LABOURAL ASPECTS OF CARICOMApart from being guided by the same set of historical precedents in British common law and statutes, the CARICOM countries, since the signing of the Chaguaramas accord, have long committed themselves in principle, to basic parameters regarding labour. The Preamble of the principal 1973 agreement commits the member governments to seek full employment and improved working conditions3. Article 10 of the agreement mandated a Standing Committee of Labour Ministers, whose charge is to formulate policies to fulfil the Community’s objectives concerning labour. Chapter V of the document, in establishing the guidelines regarding the movement of labour, dictates, as a cardinal principle, that in the hiring process, CARICOM nationals were to be given priority over foreigners. The inauguration of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) in 1989 meant an equal determination to the free movement of “goods services, labour and capital.”4 This follows the logic of the unconstrained mobility of all factors of production in a globalized economy. Protocol II amending the initial Chaguaramas treaty, was adopted 1997. In giving effect to the Protocol, the governments agreed that graduates of the regional Universities, University of the West Indies (UWI), University of Guyana (UG) and the University of Suriname, may work in any territory without requiring work permits. This freedom is also extended to “managerial, technical, supervisory staff including spouses and immediate family members,” 5 of corporations and institutions across the region In furtherance of the objective of a deeper integration process, a 1993 Meeting of Labour Ministers in St. Lucia agreed on a Declaration of Labour and Industrial Relations Principles. This Declaration was oriented towards a “general Labour and Industrial Relations Policy to which the region aspires, taking into account international labour standards.” (CARICOM 1999: ii) The Declaration was adopted at the 13th meeting of the Committee of Ministers of Labour in the Bahamas in 1995. In 1996 the Community developed the Agreement on Social Security. This accord recognizes that a large part of the regional unification process is the harmonization of social security provisions. Furthermore, it places social protection squarely on the agenda of the regional integration process. A year later, the Community adopted the 1997 Charter of Civil Society. Reinforcing the initial Chaguaramas Treaty, the Charter declares that “the governments of the Member States share a common determination to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of their peoples for full employment and the improvement of living and working conditions.” 6 The Declaration has a number of explicit guidelines covering the following topics; Freedom of Association; Collective Bargaining; Non-Discrimination in Employment and Occupation; Employment Policy; Labour Administration; Disputes Settlement; and Consultation and Tripartism. Each of these topics is given further detail in the declaration, to demonstrate a great degree of affinity with the ILO’s core labour standards. As an example, Article 16, which is titled “Forced Labour,” deals with the subjects of compulsory work as well as child labour. Subsection 1 of the Article reads, “The Member States shall not impose nor permit to be imposed, forced or compulsory labour .....” and Subsection 2 states, “The member States undertake to prohibit the employment of children of less than fifteen years.” The CARICOM Declaration embodies both the ILO core labour standards and the regional commitment to common provisions relating to labour and social security. Adherence to the norms contained in the Declaration is the real challenge of the process of integration. Within the Community there is a particular governance structure which determines and maintains labour and social policy of the region. The principal governing body is the Conference of Heads of Government. Below this body is the Community’s Council of Ministers, and below this are; the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED); the Council for Foreign and Community relations (COFCOR); the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP); and the Council for Human and Social Development (COSHOD). COSHOD is therefore one of six autonomous organs of the regional governance structure. Under Article 49 (b) of Protocol III of 1997, which revised the principal Treaty, the COSHOD is engaged to fulfil the “the objectives of full employment, improved living and working conditions, adequate social security policies and programmes, tripartite consultations among Governments, workers and employers organisations and cross-border mobility of labour.” Download 475.12 Kb. Share with your friends:
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