Roger keeping abreast ... But more social protection needed

Orville Taylor, Contributor

In Parliament two weeks ago, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke, a man who knows about lactating animals, crossed the species line and tabled a paper on breastfeeding rights of working women. In all fairness, I haven't read the document, and though it was not a case of his holding it close to his chest, it needs to be more accessible to public scrutiny.

The ministry paper, which is manifestly intended to "enact/review legislation to protect the breastfeeding rights of working women and establishing means of its implementation and enforcement", seems to come against the run of play. At least one union has expressed reservation about it, and the president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation, Wayne Chen, while understanding the "importance of maintaining employee morale" and its impact on productivity, is cautious about its likely cost and practicality.

For all the cattle jokes that his initiative might inspire, Maas Roger is not chatting bull, and there is nothing wrong with the proposal because it seems that he somewhat understands the direct relationship between labour productivity and the sort of protection that workers need. Indeed, he might be in a better position than the media personality who doesn't know the difference between mangoes and pumpkins. Nevertheless, as well-intentioned as his interest is in this topic, it is a bit outside his remit.

First of all, while I like the notion, Clarke must first consult his colleague ministers with responsibility for such matters, and ask them about how well the battery of Jamaican labour laws works. President general of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, Kavan Gayle, spoke of the already inadequate protection of the Maternity Leave Act (MLA) of 1979 and how it is inferior to the provisions of the 13-year-old Convention 183 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which Jamaica dare not ratify because it will surely breach it.

Perhaps Maas Roger doesn't know, but the ILO has issues with the Government with regard to its laws on night work for women, freedom of association, equal remuneration and, importantly, labour clauses in government contracts. It is also very concerned about the matter of contract work and the extent to which employers use it to deny workers their rights. Indeed, if one is designated a contractor and not a worker, the entire topic of maternity protection and breastfeeding would not apply, because only workers are covered under the maternity conventions and laws.

MAKING A MOCKERY

Maas Roger must reason with Minister Kellier and the Comrade Leader and let them know that his proposal will be made a mockery of unless the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act (LRIDA) and all the other labour laws, including the MLA, are amended. These must make it clear, as in other CARICOM countries, that, persons who are 'labour-only' contractors are workers. Simple!

You see, unless workers get jobs in the first place, which is a major challenge of this Government, the women will have all the time to breastfeed at home, or worse, they will be so malnourished that they won't produce enough milk.

The stress of insecure work in a country where unemployment is growing is cause to make any babymother fret. Between January 2011 and January 2013, unemployment in the prime childbearing age group of 20-24 years has risen from 35.6 per cent to 43.0 per cent. And it could be worse, but these young women have stopped looking for work and either are in school or simply gave up. In January 2011, the labour force participation rate for these women was 61.9; this year, it was down to 53.6.

I recall when Audley 'Man a Yard' Shaw promised "jobs, jobs, jobs". And, of course, since Shaw failed to deliver, Clarkie poked fun at him and said, all we got were boxing blows, "jabs, jabs, jabs". It was funny then as it is now. But Roger, we must find work for the young women before even thinking about taking on additional statutory responsibilities, when we are having problems complying with the old labour laws, which were passed 30-40 years ago. And it must be what the ILO calls 'decent work', and employees cannot be discarded for standing up for their rights.

But beyond that, Government must pick out the 'boogu' out of its own eye before concerning itself with the matter hidden in the corners of other employers' eyes.

By the way, do you know that government workers lose vacation leave if they don't take it? Yet private-sector employees can accumulate it for years. Did you know that Government has no provision for its workers to get redundancy payments if their posts are made redundant in the early years of their career, such as is likely when the public sector starts shedding fat as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) might ask? Government workers are not covered by the Employment Termination and Redundancy Payment Act (ETRPA) of 1974.

UNCONSCIONABLE

And how do you worry about prospective workers and benefits which are yet to come, when your own public-sector workers have meagre pensions? When retired civil servants expend the best years of their lives serving a nation and making politicians look good, it is unconscionable that the last decade of their lives should be spent eking out a meagre existence on the few thousand dollars per month that, in many cases, is less than the minimum wage.

Now, the governor of the Bank of Jamaica has said that the proposed government pension reform could derail its debt-reduction targets, and thus is being shelved. Is the Government going to work on better long-term benefits for the 'wage-frozen' workers? After all, the Jamaican population is much older than it was in 1974 when the ETRPA was passed. In fact, life expectancy in Jamaica was just over 70 years in 1973. In 2013, it is around 76, with women living, on the average, another six years. A public servant retiring in 1974, therefore, would do so at age 60 then, and based on pure demographics had another 10 years to cope.

In 2013, it is a different ball game. A woman of 60 is still going to the gym, had fewer children, and is younger. And men like Roger, at '70-mash', are still contributing to breast milk production.

Still, it is not simply Government's job. A message I have been trying to get through the skulls of trade unionists since the early 2000s is that in an era when inflation is likely to eat away any increase in the salaries they receive from employers, the emphasis must be on social protection and other termination benefits.

And to employers, it is not simply a welfare issue; workers who have more comfort and more protection of the contract of their employment, and who see that their present-day performance in their jobs will benefit them in the long term, will work harder and more efficiently. Commitment and dedication pay dividends.

These are difficult times, and we need all minds, hands and breasts on deck.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in sociology at the UWI and a radio talk-show host. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.