The new president of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) has some concerns about the operation of the Social Partnership.
Lalu Vaswani, during his inaugural presidential speech at the BCCI’s 186th annual general meeting at Hilton Barbados on Wednesday, said: “While Barbados has been hailed for this model, the sustainability of this path will succeed only if we remain faithful to its founding principles, including one that subordinates self-interest for the greater good of our country.”
He added: “The chamber has had to formally remind the chair of the Social Partnership subcommittee that a commitment made with respect to the Employment Rights Bill, to resolve outstanding issues at the level of the Social Partnership, has been overlooked in favour of expediting passage of this bill through Parliament.”
Describing the approach as unfortunate since it “undermined confidence and had the potential, if made a trend, of putting in jeopardy the collective will and sacrifices of the last two decades”, he stressed that no member of the partnership should be excused for violating trust and commitments.
Vaswani said also that getting the economy moving was the priority of the private sector. (GE)
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