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Showkutally Soodhun,Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment
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Showkutally Soodhun,Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment
<B>What is main purpose of the tripartite seminar on migrant labour, which is being held by your ministry? </B>
This seminar is organized with the collaboration of the International Labour Office (ILO). My ministry hopes that the workshop will help formulate coherent, transparent and comprehensive policies on migrant labour. Lately, we have brought changes to existing laws and policies to improve the welfare of foreign workers. As you are aware, we have been facing several problems on this count. The ministry is very willing to remedy the situation. Our economy continues to depend on migrant workers mainly in the textile sector and to a lesser extent in some other sectors. The Mauritian experience in labour migration illustrates ILO’s statement that “migration has become an integral part of the growth and development process”.
<B>What are the steps that have been taken to improve the welfare of immigrant workers? </B>
The management of migrant workers remains a very critical and delicate issue. We have faced serious industrial problems on occasions and witnessed some important deficits in human resource management practices in some enterprises as well as in the recruitment system. My ministry has set up a Special Migrant Unit to deal with this type of problems. We now have a model contract for all foreign workers. The contract is on our website and we verify the Hindi and Chinese versions so as to ensure that there are no discrepancies.
Work permits are not issued without fire and health clearance for dormitories. Inspection and enforcement procedures have been made tighter with night inspections and surprise visits to dormitories. Workers now feel more at ease to express their grievances. I have also introduced legislation, which provides for heavy fines against intimidation and harassment acts. We have also taken steps to eliminate disparities in food allowances. Workers’ contracts are verified before they set for Mauritius in order to prevent any kind discrepancies.
The mode of paying wages is a source of industrial conflict…</B>
One of the terms of employment contracts is the transfer of remittances and the mode of payment of wages. These remain a sensitive problem, which has in the past resulted in work stoppages and protests. The role of recruiting agents, deposits paid before coming to Mauritius and the contract signed by workers with recruiting agents have caused a lot of ambiguity and confusion. We have been urging employers to pay workers directly in Mauritius. There has been considerable progress in this area and companies are generally complying with the law.
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