Where is the business plan for the Labour Department to cover 2023, Massiah asks minister

Senator David Massiah says there seems to be no plans for the Labour Department or for labour relations, in general, by the Gaston Browne Administration.

However, the Government is boasting that the change it implemented in the work-permit programme in 2022 continues to bear fruit, and the new system is leaner and improved in terms of service delivery.

Even with the ongoing pandemic, it says the staff in the Work Permit Unit continue to deliver high-quality services and that applications continue to be captured into the renamed labour-market information system, which is called the Labour Administration Application.

Yet, Massiah says the business plan referenced by Minister of Labour Steadroy “Cutie” Benjamin – who boasted about the inroads made – does not detail what the plans for the Department actually are.

He says the business plan is silent on what is to take place this year – despite the many issues affecting the Department, including  being underfunded and inadequately staffed to deal with important matters.

Meanwhile, Massiah says there has been talk about a National Tripartite Council. He says that reference was made to it in the business plan of the 2023 budget and he is curious to find out when last the council met.

In fact, Senator Massiah says, he has not heard of any meetings of this body.