Labour Day Message 2025 - A New Social Contract for a Resilient Future ECA’s Labour Day Message 2025 A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT FOR A RESILIENT FUTURE: ADVANCING DECENT WORK THROUGH DIALOGUE [ARANGUEZ, 18 June 2025] — Overlapping disruptions have become the defining feature of our time. Far from resisting this reality, we must acknowledge that it is no longer business as usual. As we observe Labour Day 2025, the Employers' Consultative Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ECA) calls on all social partners to recommit to dialogue and collaboration as we collectively work toward developing a nation that fosters social justice and decent work for all our citizens. In recent years, we have seen how transformative technologies, geopolitical instability, climate change, and economic pressures continue to converge, threatening both business continuity and workforce stability. Within the Caribbean, our vulnerabilities are even more acute. These disruptions challenge us to create sustainable solutions that protect both enterprise and employment. The labour market has become increasingly diverse and dynamic. While our governing legislation has served us well for many years, there is now a growing dissonance between existing standards and current realities. This social disconnect risks contributing to an escalation of industrial relations tensions and delays in dispute resolution, further weakening confidence in key institutions and amplifying legal ambiguity around new forms of work. Tripartite dialogue, which is a foundational pillar of good labour and social governance, must once again become the cornerstone of our efforts to deal with these and other emerging issues. In this regard, the ECA notes, with optimism, expressed commitments to address some of these burning concerns, including a revitalization of the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC) and modernisation of key labour laws. These assurances offer a timely opportunity for government, employers, and workers to co-create policies that support lasting growth through sustainable enterprise development and productivity enhancement, addressing inequalities, enhancing social protection and reinforcing institutions of social dialogue. The ECA, since its establishment in 1960, has played a pivotal role in advancing labour relations and fostering industrial peace in Trinidad and Tobago. We reaffirm our commitment to constructive engagement and a renewed spirit of meaningful social dialogue, grounded in the principles of mutual respect and shared responsibility. The tides of change are upon us, and we must learn to swim, while not losing sight of our own national priorities. Re-skilling, re-tooling, and skills anticipation, AI and automation, climate change and its impact on occupational health and safety, remote and hybrid work, formalisation, productive employment, and sustainable wage structures are just some of the new conversations that social partners must now be able to constructively address. Social justice can only be achieved through systems that enable both employers and workers to succeed. On this Labour Day, let us endeavour to return to the table, recommit to partnership, and work together toward an economy that leaves no one behind. We extend our very best to all workers across the nation. May this be a moment not just of reflection, but of renewed commitment to building a resilient, fair, and prosperous Trinidad and Tobago. HAPPY LABOUR DAY! ***
