Hotel workers now have the handle, says Wallace

WESTERN BUREAU:

Speaking against the protest action taken by hotel works to champion their cause for better remuneration and working conditions, Dr Carey Wallace, executive director at the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), says the labour force is in a commanding position as there are currently more jobs available within the tourism sector than the number of people available to fill them.

Speaking with The Gleaner on the sidelines of the 3rd Global Tourism Resilience Conference and Expo, at the Princess Hotels and Resorts, in Hanover, Wallace said what is now happening in Jamaica is a strengthening of the labour situation.

“Underneath all that smoke (industrial action) there are really some positives… . We are coming out of a situation where Jamaica had a high unemployment rate, so when you have that supply and demand situation, wherein there were more people needing jobs, now you are in a situation where there are more jobs needing people,” said Wallace. “And, with that said, the handle is now in the hands of the worker, the blade has changed.

“We have to think of the present situation as the slogan used by a particular hotel chain, ‘It’s ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen’, and that has to be the approach that we take when we think about Jamaicans who are in the tourism space, to treat them with respect and with the type of value such a situation demands,” he added.

Wallace also argued that all the different levels of workers in the tourism sector are professionals, who are adding value to the product, and deserve to be treated accordingly.

When quizzed about problems that surfaced during the demonstrations last year, he said the contentious issues have been resolved.

“I want to hope that most of the attitudinal changes would have been put in place. I would also want to think that most of the corrections in terms of the emoluments and so on would have been in train as well,” he said.

Wallace said he is anticipating that the tourism industry locally can get back to its original focus of providing outstanding quality of service to the visitors to the island, which places Jamaica as a destination standing out globally.

With respect to the burning issue of employment contracts, which denies several workers in the tourism industry certain basic benefits, Wallace said that, with the present situation of more jobs being available than workers, investors need to start thinking about how they can become more attractive to the workers in the industry.

“It’s pretty much saying that market forces will start to streamline things without it necessarily having to be legislated on,” said Wallace, who added that he is in favour of upskilling every Jamaican worker, as it is time to have the people of the nation adding value to the industries of the country.

Bryan Miller