Labour Ministry to conduct assessment of working conditions across tourism sector

By Kimone Witter    

 

Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jnr says labour relations in the tourism industry will come under greater scrutiny following Monday's industrial action by staff at two Royalton hotels in western Jamaica.

 

Mr. Charles has also disclosed that there have been complaints about a breakdown in labour relations among staff and management at other resorts in the industry.

 

Speaking Thursday on TVJ's Smile Jamaica, the Labour Minister said the protest has been the launching pad for an investigation into the treatment of staff across the tourism sector. 

 

"We have had for some time, I wouldn't say complaints, but concerns from workers in this sector. In this particular incident, it was one of three of the Royalton hotels that was, in particular, having this protest, industrial action. But the ministry sees it as an opportunity to not just focus just on the industrial action for the one hotel in Negril, but to look on a wider perspective and to say, listen, are these issues, as you said, related to just to Negril, or are these issues that are common across the sector?" 

 

Mr. Charles said the Labour Ministry will be conducting an assessment of the tourism industry. 

 

"We're going to be developing the tourism labour relations working group to dive down into these issues to see exactly what are the concerns, what are the potential solutions to these concerns, and to move to really advance what we have called the decent work agenda. The International Labour Organization has this decent work agenda that is global, which talks about advancing jobs and rights for workers and social dialogue and all of that. And this is really what you see coming out of the actions this week, where workers should have the right to stand up and say, we have a problem," he noted. 

 

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett on Wednesday said progress had been made towards resolving the labour dispute at Royalton in Negril and Trelawny.

 

The workers protested over low wages, the absence of canteen facilities and poor management and employee relations.

 

The Labour Minister said resorts that are operated by overseas companies are educated on the country's labour laws.

 

Mr. Charles was responding to a concern that was raised after it was reported that executives from Blue Diamond International, operator of Royalton, came from Spain to resolve the industrial action.

 

He said the laws in Jamaica and Europe are similar. 

 

"It's just a matter of persons understanding that despite the laws in Jamaica, we are a particular type of people. We expect for you to understand that the respect and value and engagement must not just be said, it must be shown," the minister reasoned. 

 

He added that his ministry will be developing a decent work engagement programme, "which will see us providing a framework so that we are not just saying to people, you must abide by these principles, but we are helping you to understand what to do in order to avoid what will result in chaos and problem".