Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, attended a meeting with his Caribbean counterparts to discuss labour issues last week.

Mr Hayward represented Bermuda at the 12th International Labour Organisation meeting of Caribbean ministers of labour, held in Georgetown, Guyana from May 23 to 25.

Held before next month’s International Labour Conference in Geneva, the meeting, the first held since 2019, centred on the theme “Social Justice: the Foundation for Sustainable Caribbean Transformation”.

According to a government spokeswoman, the event addressed social justice, the importance of labour migration and progress made on existing policies.

Mr Hayward said at the conference: “In Bermuda, while the economy is doing relatively well, rebounding from the pandemic and showing many signs of resilience, there is much work to do to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the people of Bermuda."

He also talked about Bermuda’s first minimum wage, set to take effect on Thursday, as well as the Government’s youth employment strategy.

Mr Hayward added: “Overall, the discussions were productive, and it was my pleasure to represent Bermuda at this significant meeting to share the work that the Ministry of Economy and Labour is doing to ensure access to opportunities, progress and a better quality of life for the people of Bermuda through human-centred policy development.”