Labour Minister Salutes Workers as Jamaica Marks National Workers’ Week

Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., Minister of Labour and Social Security, has praised the country’s workforce for sustaining national development as Jamaica marks Workers’ Week from May 17 to 25.

Speaking on Sunday (May 17) at the National Workers’ Week and Labour Day thanksgiving service at St. John’s Methodist Church in Montego Bay, St. James, he said employees in every field remain at the heart of the island’s advancement. Their routine work, he added, still touches lives and reinforces communities across the nation.

“Heartfelt thanks to our Jamaican workers in every corner of this island – members of the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force), our health workers, teachers, nurses, ancillary staff, and all who are making a difference,” he said.

Charles Jr. described this year’s observance theme, ‘One People, One Purpose – In All Things Jamaica Wins’, as a fitting call for shared effort in moving the country forward. “Unity should never be a slogan. It is how our nation grows,” he emphasised.

He told the congregation that Jamaica’s gains have long rested on citizens pulling in the same direction for the wider good. The Minister also recalled the 1938 labour uprising, when workers from sugar estates to the Kingston waterfront demanded dignity, fairness, and improved conditions. That stand, he said, helped forge the institutions that now safeguard labour rights and favour consultation over conflict.

“We honour that legacy not only by remembering it but by building workplaces that value fairness, safety and respect,” he urged, stressing that workers are owed dignity, opportunity, and protection.

Charles Jr. urged Jamaicans to carry a service-minded approach into Labour Day projects. “Let us clean, plan and build. Let us make our communities better than we found them,” he said.

He also underlined the need to back young people, noting that lasting national growth hinges on how well the next generation is prepared. “Invest in a youth. This may seem like small acts but small acts done consistently shape a nation’s character,” he said. “To our young people, Jamaica needs your motivation and your innovation to work across this land,” he added.