Concerning Workers’ Rights in South America’s Curaçao

Curaçao is a nation in the Lesser Antilles, located in the Dutch Caribbean area of the southern Caribbean Sea, around 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of the Venezuelan coast. As one of the ABC islands, together with Aruba and Bonaire, it is a component nation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The term “Dutch Caribbean” is often used to refer to the grouping of Dutch Caribbean islands that includes Curaçao, Aruba, and the like.

Formerly known as the Island Territory of Curaçao within the Dutch Antilles from 1815 until 1954 and then as a separate country from 1954 until 2010 with the official name of “Country of Curaçao,” Curaçao is now its sovereign nation. It consists of the larger island of Curaçao and the uninhabited smaller island of Klein Curaçao. Curaçao has a population of 158,665 (January 2019 est. ), with an area of 444 km2 (171 sq. mi. ); its city is Willemstad.

Numerous nations in Latin America and Labor Law Curacao, including Colombia and Mexico, have adopted substantial labor reforms in recent years to enhance workers’ rights, but these efforts have mostly been fruitless. Therefore, the area scores badly in indices that monitor labor rights, even though the most renowned indicator of labor rights issued by the International Trade Union Confederation has flaws. This is even though several nations in the hemisphere have signed on to international labor agreements and have approved recent reforms (ITUC).

There are four main reasons why Latin America fails to do a good job of preserving and honoring workers’ rights: (1) numerous labor reforms throughout the region have been restricted in scope; (2) Latin American nations are generally weak in implementing those reforms and the laws governing labor and workers’ rights; (3) the structural and economic changes at the end of the 20th century diminished the influence of labor unions and scaled back safeguards for employees; and (4) the vast robbing of workers’ pensions and social security.

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