Trade union leaders are calling for the urgent modernisation of Antigua and Barbuda’s Labour Code, arguing that legislation introduced in 1975 is no longer adequate for workplaces increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, remote employment, outsourcing and digital surveillance.
People’s Union representative Ralph Potter said the Labour Code has been under review for decades but has yet to be updated fully to reflect present-day industrial relations.
Speaking at the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union’s 59th Annual Delegates Conference, Potter said the country must complete the review and establish a modern legal framework governing relations among workers, employers and unions.
“We really need to get to a point where we complete that so that we operate in a more modernised area, with our industrial relations systems being in line with where we are today and not in line with where we were in 1975, when the Labour Code was first introduced,” Potter said.
He said delays in collective bargaining, retroactive salary payments and the settlement of industrial disputes were among the problems affecting workers under the current system.
Potter also accused some employers and government institutions of misusing provisions governing essential services.
Workers in essential services are generally required to provide 14 days’ notice before taking industrial action. Potter said the period should create an opportunity for employers and unions to negotiate a settlement.
Instead, he alleged, some employers use the notice period to refer disputes quickly to the Industrial Court, effectively preventing workers from taking action while the matters remain unresolved.
Jamaican trade unionist and government Sen. Kavan Gayle supported the demand for reform, saying Antigua and Barbuda could not continue using decades-old legislation to regulate modern employment relationships.
“You cannot have a code of the past, a code built on people who are no longer around, that is operating today,” Gayle said.
He said an updated Labour Code must anticipate future changes rather than simply respond to problems that have already developed.
Gayle identified fixed-term and temporary employment, outsourcing, remote and hybrid work, digital surveillance, artificial intelligence, data protection and workplace harassment as issues that must be covered by a modern legal framework.
He said workers and trade unions must be fully involved in the review, warning that social dialogue should not mean the government makes decisions before informing the other parties.
“Social dialogue is participating in the decision-making,” Gayle said.
He argued that governments, employers and trade unions all have roles to play in shaping employment policy and responding to technological changes.
Gayle also proposed that Caribbean countries develop a regional social-dialogue protocol for the future of work. Such an agreement, he said, could establish common principles for early consultation and tripartite discussions involving governments, employers and workers’ representatives.
The union leaders made the calls as the ABWU observed its 59th anniversary under the theme, “Celebrating 59 Years of Stewardship: Embracing the Changes and Preparing for the Future World of Work.”
This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Union Leaders Demand Urgent Modernisation of Antigua and Barbuda’s Labour Code.