Department to review colonial labour laws

THE Department of Labour and Industrial Relations is reviewing labour laws in existence since the colonial days, says Labour and Industrial Relations secretary George Taunakekei.
“Many of our labour laws are colonial and we have prioritised some of them for reviewing.
“We are trying to modernise labour laws so they reflect the current socio-economic climate of the country,” he said.
The legislations include the Employment Act 1978, Industrial Relations Act 1962, Worker’s Compensation Act 1978 and the Occupational Safety and Health Legal Framework.
Acting Labour and Industrial Relations Minister John Rosso highlighted the ratification of three international labour conventions.
“The department is now putting together a task force, working with the police and line agencies such as immigration to ensure that we start in Port Moresby and to other urban centres,” Rosso said.
“We can make laws but enforcement of those laws are very important.
“Papua New Guineans need to concentrate more on enforcement. A lot of (bad) things happen because there is no one to enforce the existing laws.”
PNG is one of the 147 out of 187 countries to ratify the Labour Inspection Convention. “All agencies of enforcement must be seen to be enforcing these laws and they must be given the best tools possible in amending laws to suit them so that they can prosecute offenders,” he said.
“The intention is to create a robust mechanism to establish effective labour inspections in the country and to step up tri-partite conventions and protect everyone at the workplace.”