Labour Law in the New Globalised Environment and the Failure of the Voluntary Model

• Author: Rose-Marie B. Antoine
• Pages: 372-386

372 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Labour Law in a New Globalised

Environment and the Failure

of the Voluntary Model

The thrust of this chapter is the way in which the existing labour law

regime, which relies primarily on the voluntary model of labour relations

and the contract principle, will fail us in the new global context. This is a

topic which has been ignored thus far in labour law jurisprudence. I am of

course, aware that it is fashionable today, in the context of globalisation, to

emphasise the diminution of the State in favour of all pervasive market forces.

So, it is perhaps a paradox that in an era of globalisation, which translates into

less government and more liberal market forces, I should be calling for more

intervention by the State in order to enact labour laws more sensitive to the

needs of the workplace. Nevertheless, in relation to labour laws, I do not

believe that the fundamentals for developing our human resource potential

lies in the market place under the auspices of the voluntary model, which is

essentially a hands off approach.

In my examination of the labour law framework, I will be looking at

human resource development in different ways. On the one hand, I am

concerned about such development in the sense of workers' rights. Undeniably,

enhancing workers' rights will develop human resource potential in that it

enhances productivity. I am also interested in the notions of competitiveness

and flexibility because I believe that, while our laws in this new global context

should promote workers' rights, they should also be flexible enough to

encourage competitiveness in the workplace. This is clearly a factor in human

resource development. I am concerned too about productivity in a more direct

sense that our laws and practices do not undermine productivity.

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From the inception of labour law in the Commonwealth Caribbean, the

voluntary model which sees the State as an almost invisible party and the

market place as all dominant has been the guiding force in all aspects of labour

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