The Aruban delegation attended the 113th edition of the International Labor Conference.
ORANJESTAD— On June 8, 2025, Minister of Tourism, Transport, and Labor, Mr. Wendrick Cicilia, left for a working visit to Geneva to attend the 113th edition of the International Labor Conference (ILO).
During the 2025 conference, government, employer, and worker delegates from the 187 member states of the ILO will discuss important labor market issues, such as possible new international standards for the protection of workers from biological hazards in the workplace, decent work in the platform economy, and innovative approaches to promote the transition from the informal to the formal economy. For Aruba, the trip has added value.
Minister Cecilia met the Aruban delegation already present in Geneva, which consists of several experts in the field of labor and trade unions. The Aruban delegation: the chairman of the Federation of Workers of Aruba (FTA), Jose Figueroa; Eugenio "Tito" de Cuba, on behalf of the employers; legal advisor of the Department of Labor and Research (DAO), Anthony Lee Rivears; "researcher" of DAO, Tivisay T-Boekhoud; Minister of Labor Juliero; and advisor Kelly. The Minister of Tourism, Transport, and Labor, Mr. Wendrick Cicilia, headed the Aruban delegation.
The tripartite approach involves the government, employers' groups, and employees at the negotiation table. The delegation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands accompanied the Aruban delegation. Minister Cecilia will exchange plans and visions with other countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On the first working day in Geneva, Minister Cecilia met with the Department of Sectoral Policy, the deputy director Yukiko Arai. Shortly afterward, he met with the Dutch Deputy Minister of Labour and Director General Stan Kaatee and Minister Cecilia. It followed with a fruitful meeting with the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the ILO, Peter van Rooi, and Raul van de Ven. He also met with Glady Cisneros, a labor migration expert, and to conclude the first day, he spoke with Manon Post, a Dutch Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs representative. Minister Cecilia looks back on a fruitful day with many meetings, one after the other, but is satisfied with the outcome for Aruba.
In this way, the delegates make essential connections where we support each other in maintaining job security and fair treatment for all workers. Minister Ciciliata expects that at the end of the working trip, there is certainty that we will return home with knowledge and thus contribute to strengthening our labor market with information for management improvement and new legislation, including the Working Conditions Act.