Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) - Barbados (Ratification: 1967)

Articles 7 and 9 of the Convention. Free services rendered by public employment agencies and transfer of remittances. The Committee notes the communication from the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB), dated 19 June 2008, in which it expresses concerns relating to the Farm Labour Programme between Barbados and Canada, which still employs thousands of Barbadians. According to the CTUSAB, 25 per cent of the workers’ earnings are being remitted to the Barbados Government directly from Canada, 5 per cent of which is retained by the Government for administrative expenses. The CTUSAB also maintains that the costs of going to Canada, as well as pension contributions for both Barbados and Canada and medical contributions in Canada are immediately deducted from their pay, which is creating hardship for the workers concerned. In the view of CTUSAB, the system must be reviewed so as not to disadvantage the workers under the programme.

The Committee notes that the Government has not replied to the comments from CTUSAB. The Committee recalls that under Article 9 of the Convention, ratifying States undertake to permit the transfer of such part of the earnings and savings of the migrant for employment as the migrant may desire. Requiring migrant workers to remit 25 per cent of their earnings to the Government would, in the view of the Committee, be contrary to the spirit of Article 9 of the Convention. Moreover, the Committee recalls that Article 7(2) of the Convention provides that services rendered by public employment services in connection with the recruitment, introduction and placing of migrants for employment are to be provided free of charge. The Committee draws the attention of the Government to the fact that charging workers for purely administrative costs of recruitment, introduction and placement is prohibited under the Convention (General Survey of 1999 on migrant workers, paragraph 170). The Committee urges the Government:

(i)    to undertake a review of the Farm Labour Programme between Barbados and Canada, in cooperation with the workers’ and employers’ organizations;

(ii)   to explain the reasons for requiring migrant workers under the programme to remit 25 per cent to the Government, including 5 per cent for administrative costs; and

(iii) to ensure that purely administrative costs of recruitment, introduction and placement are not borne by the workers recruited under the programme, and that migrants for employment are permitted to transfer their earnings or such part of their earnings and savings as they desire.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.