BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 5th March 2021)- First Vice President of the longstanding St.Kitts-Nevis Trades & Labour Union Mr. Larry Vaughan has successfully completed certified training in social dialogue which was offered by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The intense five-week course was conducted between 9th November and 11th December 2020, covering more than 40 labour relations concepts and the related ILO standards and recommendations.
As a course participant, Mr. Vaughan examined the ILO doctrines and their relationship with national laws, policies and practices.
The training which is normally offered at the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin, Italy was conducted virtually to accommodate more than one hundred participants worldwide who were unable to travel and interact.
Annually, the ITC conducts capacity building training programmes that assist governments, employers and workers to strengthen their collaborations in the pursuit of national economic and social improvements. The training, in its new format, still allowed for some interaction among the participants as the face-to-face sessions of past years did.
Mr. Vaughan undertook sessions in labour relations, collective bargaining and workplace cooperation; the role of collective bargaining in ensuring a system of sound industrial relations; labour relations in the public sector; enhancing the role of tripartism and national dialogue institutions; the setting of wages through collective bargaining and its links with productivity; the role of social dialogue during crises, especially the COVID-19 pandemic; and improving the collection of data on industrial relations for evidence-based policy-making among other topics.
The culmination of his training was a paper that was submitted on the policy implications of social dialogue as it pertains to Saint Kitts and Nevis. In his capstone paper, Mr. Vaughan considered the importance of regularising the work of the national tripartite committee which is led by the Ministry of Labour as well as the introduction of a public service union that would bring about better relations between government workers and the state as well as more worker friendly policymaking and implementations.
Mr. Vaughan is a career public servant and social activist. He is also the First Vice President of the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union. His training in and understanding of social dialogue will help the Union to better engage its social partners and the state in improving the labour relations in Saint Kitts and Nevis through enhanced levels of consultation and negotiation.
The St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union and this publication congratulate Mr. Vaughan on this achievement. We look forward to congratulating more of our nationals on attaining ILO certification in the future.