Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Barbados (Ratification: 1976)

1. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report received in December 1998. The Government describes Protocol Three for Implementation of a Social Partnership for 1998-2000, adopted with tripartite representation. The Protocol relates to exchange rates, sustainable economic growth, economic restructuring, increasing employment and productivity, balancing prices and incomes, and consolidating tripartite consultation. The Government has also established a subcommittee of the social partners for consultation on all aspects of the implementation of Protocol Three. The Committee notes this information with interest, particularly concerning the extent of consultations with workers' and employers' organizations and representatives of other sectors of the economy in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention. It would appreciate receiving further information on the outcome of the Social Partnership and Protocol Three and the work of the subcommittee.

2. The Government reports that unemployment peaked at 24.3 per cent in 1994, and was down to 14.5 per cent in 1997. The informal sector has also grown. Youth and women remain the most affected by unemployment. The unemployment rate for males was 11.3 per cent in 1997 whereas it was 17.8 per cent for females. In order to reduce the unemployment rates for women and youth, the Government has implemented targeted vocational training programmes and a youth entrepreneurship scheme for persons aged 15 to 30, which provides technical assistance, counselling, finance and business training. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would explain in more detail the types of targeted programmes which exist, as well as information on how many participants obtain lasting employment. Please provide further information on the other programmes described by the Government in its report, particularly the impact of the Human Resource Development Project, towards attaining the goal of full, productive and freely chosen employment, in accordance with Article 1 of the Convention.

3. The Committee also notes that a labour flexibility survey and an informal sector survey, both supported by the ILO, were carried out in 1998. The Government also participated in an ILO subregional workshop on development of a wage statistics programme for the Caribbean which could provide a basis for gathering employment data. Please provide copies of the surveys, and further information on any follow-up action taken with respect to the surveys and the workshop, as requested in Part V of the report form. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would supply in its next report copies of the economic reviews by the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.