President of the Caribbean Congress of Labour, Andre Lewis.
Both employers and employees must be able to adapt to the changing world of work brought about by the current COVID-19 pandemic and systems must be put in place to ensure that decent work still remains on the agenda and any inequalities in the working world are addressed.
President of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), Andre Lewis suggested the above, as he spoke during the recently held CARICOM Girls in ICT Partnership 2nd Digital Dialogue online, which focused on the topic, “Jobs, Work and Opportunities in the post-COVID Caribbean”.
“It is instructive to remember right before COVID-19, it was agreed and accepted that the world of work is changing. The question of being prepared for those changes was and is a factor that must be addressed, as we prepare our people and women in particular to enter the world of work and women in particular, because they are the focus, because of inequalities,” Lewis said.
“Flexible working hours, working from home, working virtually, must all be centered around the ILO’s call for the Decent Work Agenda. So everything advanced by the different opportunities, it must be guided by that issue of addressing inequalities. The Decent Work Agenda includes employment creation, that’s the right to work; rights at work such as joining a trade union, freedom of association; social protection, a basic level of protection designed to uphold a decent standard of living; social dialogue or genuine and meaningful engagement between the stakeholders. There is a need to address some of these challenges that may arise,” he added.
Lewis also noted that in the present COVID-19 environment, there may be a transfer of the operational costs from the traditional businesses, to the workers’ homes.
He therefore queried, “Who will be responsible for the provision of the tools to function at home? If workers get injured at home, performing work, will this be considered a workplace injury and who will be liable?
“There will be the need to establish boundaries as to the accessibility to the employees, since there may be this expectation that you are almost and always within reach. The aspect of work life balance, managing time at home with family and domestic responsibilities,” he further commented.
Lewis stressed that the Caribbean Congress of Labour has acknowledged that the world of work has changed and continues to change and therefore, all involved in the labour environment, must be in a position to adapt and there must be continual learning, even in this environment. (RSM)