Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

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

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments. The Committee informs the Government that, if it has not supplied replies to the points raised by 1 September 2020, then it may proceed with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal at its next session.

Repetition

Articles 7 and 9 of the Convention. Free services and assistance and transfer of remittances. In its previous comments, the Committee considered that the requirement for migrant workers participating in the Canada–Caribbean Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme “the Farm Labour Programme” – to remit 25 per cent of their earnings to the Government directly from Canada as mandatory savings, 5 per cent of which was retained to pay the administrative costs of the Programme, could be contrary to the spirit of Article 9 of the Convention. The Committee had also taken note of the concerns expressed by the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados that this requirement, together with the immediate deduction of certain costs such as airfares, pension and medical contributions from the workers’ pay, created hardship for the workers, and the Programme needed to be reviewed. The Committee also drew the Government’s attention 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 notes the Government’s indication that arrangements are made for a percentage of the earnings of the workers on overseas programmes to be remitted back to the country for them to access upon return and that workers travelling on the overseas programmes are required to sign an “agreement” (contract of employment) which allows for the deduction of 20 per cent of their wages to cover administration costs and national insurance contributions. According to the Government, upon arrival in Canada the workers are met by the Barbados liaison officers and in Barbados the employment services to migrants are rendered free of charge by the National Employment Bureau, which oversees the preparation and departure of workers. The Committee notes that the “Agreement for the Employment in Canada of Commonwealth Caribbean Seasonal Agricultural Workers – 2013” provides that the worker agrees that the employer shall remit to the government agent 25 per cent of the worker’s wages for each payroll period and that “a specified percentage of the 25 per cent remittance to the government agent shall be retained by the Government to defray administrative costs associated with the delivery of the programme” (section IV, paragraphs 1 and 3). The worker also agrees to pay to the employer part of the transportation costs and the employer, on behalf of the worker, will advance the work permit fees and be reimbursed by the government agent (section VII, paragraphs 3–4). The Committee requests the Government to clarify why it is considered necessary to require migrant workers under the Farm Labour Programme to remit 25 per cent of their wages to the liaison service for mandatory savings, including for administrative costs, and to indicate whether the liaison service has a role in the recruitment, introduction and placement of migrant workers and whether any of the administrative costs retained by the liaison service relate to recruitment, introduction or placement. The Committee also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that migrants for employment are permitted to transfer their earnings or such part of their earnings and savings as they desire, and to provide information on any steps taken, in cooperation with the workers’ and employers’ organizations, to review the impact of the Farm Labour Programme on the situation of Barbadian migrant workers.

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

The Committee expects that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.