Tourism workers deserve better

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I write in reference to The Gleaner’s January 14 editorial ‘Hotel Wages Up For Discussion’, which got me very excited at the prospect that the review of hotel wages was imminent.

As I read, I realised that there is still no commitment on the part of the Government to advance this pressing issue, but instead an urging by the editorial to have this matter placed as a priority on the agenda for the Global Tourism Resilience Conference which will be hosted in Kingston next month.

In my November 11, 2022 State of the Nation presentation in the Senate, I spoke to the need for an urgent review of the wages for workers in the tourism industry, especially in light of previous comments by the JHTA President Robin Russell, who said that increases in wages could lead to Jamaica being uncompetitive.

I maintain my position that in order to attract and retain the best of the best in the industry, the matter of appropriate remuneration must be the order of the day. Anything less is unacceptable.

According to the editorial, Jamaica’s tourism workers are paid on average US$60 per week, which at today’s exchange rate is equivalent to approximately J$9,000. What can a weekly pay of $9,000 provide for a family? On this paltry sum, any worker making $9,000 per week cannot be expected to contribute to a pension scheme.

I raise the pension issue because each time I speak to the matter of remuneration I am given a rebuttal of the pension scheme being the answer. Workers have to cover their basic needs before considering any pension contribution. When the choice is food or pension, a single mother is going choose food first.

The tourism minister must not get away with boasting of the achievements of the industry and the phenomenal growth and earnings of billions of US dollars while workers are left to survive on such low wages.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has stated on more than one occasion, that “it is the workers’ commitment to excellence that has made the difference” in the industry’s phenomenal growth. So the minister has a responsibility to immediately find a solution because workers of the industry are depending on the Government to champion their cause.

In my State of the Nation presentation, I asked “How can we, with good conscience, not seek to make adjustments when part of how we will recruit and retain the best of the best is remuneration?” I am not saying we should run businesses into the ground, but we must have the conversation as it is a linchpin in all that we face. This is how we will cause the mindset shift from seeing tourism as just a ‘work’ to tourism as a ‘career.

I join the call of the editorial for the minister and the JHTA to “get out the calculators and decide whether the results seem uneven and, if they are, decide how to level up. This is owed to the dedicated workers.”

It is my view that the minister and the technocrats in the ministry must lead the charge to ensure that dialogue takes place with the JHTA and other stakeholders, leaving no stones unturned until there is consensus on improved wages in addition to the matter of contract working conditions, which is a sore topic in the industry.

SENATOR JANICE ALLEN

SPOKESPERSON TOURISM

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