Former Commerce Minister Warns New Labour Standards Law Could Result in Mass Layoffs in Private Sector

Disgraced former commerce minister Donville Inniss has warned that the new law governing labour standards for firms taking taxpayers’ money for public contracts will lead to mass layoffs in the private sector.

The Labour Clauses (Concessions) Act, which is expected to be discussed in the Senate this week, sets minimum standards of terms and conditions of employment for employees who work with companies that benefit from government concessions. The legislation also provides for the suspension of concessions for those businesses which fail to comply with the framework legislation, which Minister of Labour Colin Jordan has said is all about the proper treatment of workers by enterprises that benefit from taxpayers’ money.

But Inniss, who was Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce, and Small Business Development in the Freundel Stuart administration before it was swept out of office in 2018, said on Monday the bill should “rightfully” be of great concern both to employers and employees.

In a Barbados TODAY interview, he said: “One must first ask, what is the mischief? There was a bus crawl organised by the BWU [Barbados Workers’ Union] to a handful of hotels resulting in a loud noise about cruel and inhumane acts of hoteliers and now, by extension, all employers.”

“Sound Government policies cannot and must not be made at the whims and fancies of one labour union, especially when said leadership takes comfort and control within the bosom of the political directorate,” he added in a thinly veiled reference to the BWU General Secretary Toni Moore sits in government as the parliamentarian for St George North.

Though acknowledging that all concerned must ensure that every worker is treated fairly, the ex-minister cautioned against “treating all employers as bad bosses”.

He insisted that there is adequate existing legislation to address such infractions without the State having to resort to the use of its “heavy hand to dismantle legitimate enterprises”, referring to the existing 1952 law which the new bill aims to overhaul.

Inniss said: “The real and present danger herein extends not just to existing domestic and foreign enterprises, but also to potential business ventures, both local and foreign. All investors seek to have certainty of laws, policies and practices, as well as transparency in dispute resolution as critical tools for investment and business expansion decisions.”

He urged the government to realise that sound and effective policies do not have to be reduced to an us vs them – employer vs employees – scenario.