Patricia Watson, Staff Reporter
THE STAGE is being set for a showdown between trade unions, women's groups, the Government and employers, over proposals for a new law that could extend maternity leave, provide time for women on the job to breastfeed, and ban employers from insisting on pregnancy tests for potential workers.
The new treaty, the Maternity Protection Convention (Revised) 1952, is expected to give added protection to pregnant women and nursing mothers.
However, while the treaty is being backed in principle by the Government, women, trade unions and the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF), the latter has expressed some reservations about the price employers will be asked to pay to accomodate a revised law.
"We support maternity protection, but what we are seeking is a balance in what is to be done and the cost," JEF President Dr. Neville Ying said last week.
Under the new agreement, the minimum maternity leave for participating countries would be extended from 12 to 14 weeks. Of this, six weeks would be considered compulsory leave.
The agreement also stipulated that employers be banned from insisting on pregnancy tests for potential employees and that pregnant and nursing women be protected from work which may harm them or their children. It also stated that women should get breaks during their working day to breastfeed and not lose pay.
The proposals for the change to the Maternity Protection Convention (1952) were made at the 88th session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference in Geneva, Switzerland, recently. Delegates at the conference put in 304 votes in favour of the new proposals. Some 22 voted against it and 116 abstained.
Dr. Ying said that the proposed move from 12 to 14 weeks needs to be thoroughly reviewed because of the possible heavy costs to employers.
"It is going to require a whole period of discussion," he said. "...The 14 weeks will have cost implications."
Dr. Ying also noted that companies would also have to provide facilities for the women to breastfeed, which many would not be able to afford.
But the new proposals were welcomed by union representatives who attended the conference.
"The unions globally embraced the proposed convention in as far as what it is trying to achieve," National Workers' Union (NWU) President Clive Dobson told The Sunday Gleaner.
According to Mr. Dobson, women will be able to breastfeed as facilities will be in place.
"It is a positive move," he said. "...A number of employers are saying they have a problem with it. It will cost them (and) that is why we need to look at it and try to determine the best terms."
Minister of Labour, Donald Buchanan said before the treaty can be ratified discussions among the different social groups will have to take place. Mr. Buchanan, who headed the CARICOM delegation to the ILO conference, said when the group met there was no consensus between the Government, trade union and employers' federations.
"The majority of Governments tended towards accepting the convention in principle. All trade unions supported and the employers were reticent," Mr. Buchanan said.
He explained that when he left the conference, he gave instructions that the Jamaican Government would support the convention.
"Once the matter has been adopted by the ILO, that's not the end of the debate. In order for this to happen, it has to be ratified," he explained.
Bureau of Women's Affairs' Executive Director Dr. Glenda Simms described the proposed maternity convention as a victory for women's work rights.
"We must do everything to ensure that it is carried through. Maternity and paternity leave are extremely important. Paternity leave is important in that men willparticipate in the raising of their children at an early age," Dr. Simms said.
