Gathering of regional employers

First Regional Employers’ Organization Meeting 
ATIA (Aruba Trade & Industry Association) celebrates 65 years

On Friday 5 November 2010 the Regional Employers Organization convened its first meeting at the ATIA Conference Room in Aruba as part of the celebrations commemorating 65 years of ATIA to the Aruban community.

The meeting was preceded by an Official Opening with a presentation done by the Minister of Economic Social and Cultural Affairs, Mrs. Michele Hooyboer-Winklaar, who stressed the importance of working together throughout the Caribbean for the betterment of the people.

Mrs. Luesette Howell, Senior Specialist for Employers’ Activities, International Labour Organization presented the theme “Challenges of Employers’ Organizations in a Globalized Environment” and she also spoke about the role of the ILO in setting standards in the world of work. After Mrs. Howell’s presentation an interactive discussion took place amongst the participants about the development trends and issues in the Dutch Caribbean, nationally and regionally; the impacts on employers organizations and the responses required. Each employers organization was able to draw correlations on what was happening in their respective country versus the global trends and they discussed the steps they are taking to address the various issues impacting their national and regional environments. This part of the program was moderated by Mr. Jan Noordzij, Managing Director, Advance Human Resources Development & Counseling.

The second session of the program was presented and moderated by Mrs. Howell and the role and responsibilities of employers’ organizations was the theme. The session was a highly interactive session with the accent on exchanging information and experiences and focusing on the needs and requirements for strengthening the capacities of the employers’ organizations of the Dutch Caribbean region.

After a lunch break at Aquarius Restaurant, session 3 was moderated by Mrs. Molly Steward, partner at law firm VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne. The focus for the afternoon was the preparation of an operational plan for cooperation on a socio-economic level.

Participants looked at strategic priorities and sectors to address and the involvement of the employers’ organizations in the formulation of joint strategies for cooperation.

Participants also looked at the various partners available for the employers’ organizations such as the International Labor Organization, the International Organization of Employers’ the Netherlands, the European union and other countries. At the end of the day, a date was set for the next meeting with concrete action points leading up to the next meeting.

Delegates from Employers Organizations in the Netherlands, Curacao, Surinam, St. Eustatius and host country Aruba, along with moderators Mr. Jan Noordzij, Mrs. Luesette Howell, Senior Employers Specialist in the ILO’ s Caribbean Office and Mrs. Molly Steward attended the meeting.

Source: local newspaper “Antilliaans Dagblad” dated 8 November 2010



Above from left to right: Joyce Bartels-daal (ATIA director), Tito de Cuba (ATIA Board member), Luesette Howell (ILO Senior Specialist Caribbean Office), moderator
Ronald van Trigt (Chairman of the Board ATIA) and Prakash Gupta (Board member ATIA).

Below from left to right: Molly Steward (partner in the law firm VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne), Luesette Howell and Joyce Bartels-Daal.