ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, July 24th, 2012 -- Madam Speaker, during February and March of this year I engaged the Territory in a series of dialogue that brought to my attention a number of issues within the labour market; issues Madam Speaker, ranging from the inadequacy of the minimum wage to the unfair treatment from some employers. There are also issues from the employers’ perspective as well, such as the inappropriate use of sick days by employees’ and poor job performance and behavioral issues.
Madam Speaker, according to our research there are over 100 nationalities represented her in the BVI; this, in and of itself, presents some unique challenges as we seek to ensure that the rights of all concerned are handled appropriately. The BVI is a service based economy and therefore the quality of the workforce is one of our greatest assets.
I think that I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the expatriate sector of the labour force has played a critical role in this Territory’s development. However, it is my duty as Minister responsible for this subject by extension the Government of the BVI, to ensure that there is a balance and that the rights of BVIslanders are protected where practical.
With that as a backdrop Madam Speaker, we have created an Employment Unit within the Labour Department with its main function being that of ensuring that BVIslanders are given a fair chance at finding gainful employment. Therefore, we will be expecting businesses to notify the Labour Department of all vacancies.
This is not intended to create fear in the labour market and it is certainly not our intention to require businesses to hire someone who is not qualified; neither are we expecting employers to have to fight tooth and nail for every work permit. But we are instead hoping to achieve some semblance of balance within the labour market.
Madam Speaker, the blanket policies of the past will not suffice in this modern economy. Therefore, it is our intention to address the specific needs of each sector. There are certain positions within the Financial Services Sector for example that most likely will not be filled by BVIslanders and this is simply because the requisite training and qualification might not be available.
However, we expect the industry to embark on an understudy programme, as stipulated in the Labour Code 2010, where practical to address this situation. The Labour Code also makes provisions for permits to be issued to individuals in highly specialized areas and we are looking at the possibility of a period of two (2) to three (3) years; this will be addressed in the coming months with a view to implementing same.
Another area that we are looking at in terms of the new policy is the yachting industry, particularly, Madam Speaker, the crewed yachts. These yachts require two persons, ideally a couple due to the restricted living quarters, to live on board the yacht and has proven to be quite challenging for companies to recruit BVIslanders to fill these posts.
We are also looking very closely at the airline business also Madam Speaker, our lack of flexibility here has caused some hardship and may have limited the effectiveness and overall efficiency of the industry. For example, Cape Air has been using St. Thomas as a base simply because, of their operating model, took too long for the pilots to get a work permit approved.
As I was informed, Madam Speaker, the pilots are rotated regularly and in order not to interrupt the flow of business the company decided to establish its base in the USVI and fly to the BVI. Pilots are required to take a comprehensive medical exam every six months in order to continue flying and therefore, in order to expedite the processing of the permits the immigration department is reviewing the practice of requiring pilots to take separate medical exams.
Madam Speaker, we are paying particular attention to the highly specialized in the medical field, Financial Services and the like, to ensure that commerce continues uninterrupted as much as possible. Firms have made and will continue to make decisions that ensure their survival especially in this very competitive climate.
Therefore, we can realistically expect that when a firm has to lay off workers that some of those workers will be BVIslanders. What we are expecting firms to do, however, is to strike a balance and if this does not happen we have the provision in the labour code that speaks to the preference of BVIslanders which is monitored by the Labour Department.
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