The Constitution provides citizens the right to form unions and to organize employees, while the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Act allows the right to strike. Employers often ignore the constitutional provisions that provide for union rights, and claim that they have a constitutional right not to recognize a trade union. Some employers, however, seek a good industrial relations environment and cooperate with trade unions. There were no major strikes. St. Vincent and the Grenadines joined the International Labor Organization in 1997 and assumed all its obligations for enforcement of labor standards.
Unions have the right to affiliate with international bodies.
Some companies offer packages of benefits with terms of employment better than, or comparable to, what a union can normally obtain through negotiations. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers against union members and organizers. Generally effective mechanisms exist for resolving complaints. There are no export processing zones. The Government prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and it is not known to occur.