Thames

The following is an extract from a statement issued on behalf of concerned church leaders representing the major Christian denominations in Jamaica.

It was with great dismay and perplexity that concerned church leaders heard the recent announcement by the minister of labour and social security that the bill to implement a seven-day flexi workweek was about to be presented to Parliament.

At this time when the country is experiencing a rapid decline in moral values resulting in unprecedented crime and violence, and when even the international community is accusing Jamaica of a high level of corruption, it is incredible that the Government should be attacking worship.

There is no doubt that the strongest motive for moral living is the obedience to and service of God. It has long been recognised that the highest standards of morals living have been those advocated by the Christian religion. It is, therefore, inexplicable that the Government should be seeking to curtail or seriously affect the regular worship to Christians in Jamaica. This would be the direct effect of a seven-day flexi workweek. Under such a system where the beginning and end of the workweek is determined solely by the employer, and Saturday and Sunday become normal working days, there would be no guarantee that members of a congregation would have the same day off to enable them to gather for worship.

Plan of action

It was to prevent this from happening that the National Tripartite Meeting on flexibility in working time convened by the then Ministry of Labour in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on November 11, 2003, arrived at certain agreements between the Government, employers, workers' organisations (trade unions) and church leaders. These agreements were embodied in a document entitled the 'National Plan of Action of Flexibility in Work Time in Jamaica'.

The agreements are as follows:

Actions to implement flexible working time agreements:

All workers should be entitled to a period of weekly rest of at least 24 hours. They should have a right to negotiate the day on which they will take this weekly rest, including with the purpose of ensuring that it coincides with their day of worship, and that right shall be protected by law.

The Government will guarantee that the right of all Jamaican citizens to worship is safeguarded by law as well as ensuring that all workers and employers have access to the conciliation and arbitration process provided by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal, in order to enforce their rights relating to working time... . The Oversight Committee/Secretariat will ensure that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security have the necessary power and resources to properly monitor, provide education, investigate complaints and offer redress.

PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN

Recognising the deep lack of awareness and understanding among the general public regarding flexibility in working time and specific working time arrangements, the Government, employers, workers organisations and the church leaders will initiate a broad public-education campaign regarding flexibility in working time ... with the aim of advancing national dialogue on this subject.

This broad public-education campaign will include:

Educational efforts in the school system ...

Joint employer and trade union educational campaigns in the workplace.

An educational outreach effort through the churches, and a wide-range information campaign conducted by the Jamaica Information Service.

The public education campaign should go ahead of, and in conjunction with, legislative changes regulating flexibility in working time, and a revised Green Paper will be a principal document in that campaign.

The concerned church leaders protest the fact that none of the above provisions has been implemented.

National consensus must be sought on a matter of such gravity and the Church will not stand by and watch the rights of Jamaicans crushed in this way.