Last week, Ancel Roget, current president of the Joint Trade Union Movement, made a statement, as the voice of his organisation, which he said represents somewhat less than 20 per cent of the workforce in TT overall.

He announced at a media conference on the steps of the Office of the Attorney General that his organisation had, and I quote: 'reported the Government to the International Labour Organisation, asking it to reform our legislation."

And he has a point. Most of our labour legislation was passed back in the mid-1900s, in a different environment, when legislation was pre-independence and environmental circumstances were very different. The ILO rules he refers to were not even ratified before 1963.

TT's obligations referred to at the time of ratification under our ILO membership include ten articles which outline the rights of both workers and employers to "join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation.'

Rights are also extended to the organisations themselves to draw up rules and constitutions, vote for officers, and organise administrative functions without interference from public authorities.

There is also an explicit expectation placed on these organisations. They are required, in the exercise of these rights, to respect the law of the land.

In turn, the law of the land "shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be so applied as to impair, the guarantees provided for in this Convention."

Finally, article 9 states that these provisions are applied to both armed forces and police forces only as determined by national laws and regulations, and do not supersede previous national laws that reflect the same rights for such forces. Article 1 states all ILO members must give effect to the following provisions:

Freedom of association

Article 2 - 'Workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation.'

Article 3 - 1. Workers' and employers' organisations shall have the right to draw up their constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes.

2. The public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof.

While Mr Roget was not specific on what violation of the membership obligations of the ILO he was reporting our government for, I thought from what he said that it was for the most sacred of these obligations which are, first: freedom of association, and second: protection of the right to organise, as he tied his accusation to a demand for changes in our labour laws.

He is within his rights to make such a report, as he perceives the violation to exist. Indeed, as a trade union leader and part of a tripartite organisation established by Government, chosen by his peers to represent their views, it is h