Call for improved efficiency in Social Partnership

There is not enough action coming out of Social Partnership meetings.

Admitting the importance of such fora, President of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation Marguerite Estwick, however, expressed concerns that the matters raised within the meetings are not being addressed in a timely fashion.

“Institutions, like people, need to move from infancy to adulthood and we think that there must be the process of making the consultations far more efficient. There are cordial discussions; the actions coming out of these discussions cause us some concern and we need to see some improved efficiency in terms of how issues raised at the Social Partnership, the timeliness with which they are addressed, so that we do not spend as much time talking around these issues and having these issues come up and we reiterate the matters arising from Minutes with very little action coming out of them,” she stressed.

One such issue was the matter of how national shutdowns during bad weather are dealt with by the business sector.

“In the shut down of Barbados, there were members of our organisation who would have found themselves in an awkward position because there remain areas in the disaster management programme that need further clarification and further discussion,” Estwick pointed out.

Earlier, she highlighted that while work has continued on the drafting of Protocol VII, it was time the partners refined the role of the partnership’s sub-committee so that the time spent at the fora result “in a defined path and accountabilities for the improvements desired”.

“It is imperative that at the level of the social partnership, we set the tone and lead the national drive for improved productivity in 2017,” she added.

At the time, she was addressing a press conference called to announce the BEC’s annual week of activities, which includes a luncheon tomorrow at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill which will feature a presentation by Roger Blackman, Managing Director of the Barbados Light and Power Company.