Allen rejects reluctance of JHTA head to raise wages
Published:Saturday | November 12, 2022 | 12:09 AM
Opposition Spokesperson on Tourism Janice Allen has disagreed strongly with a suggestion by Robin Russell, the new head of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), who recently cautioned against granting wage increases to the hospitality industry at this time.
Speaking at the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce Expo 2022 recently, Russell reportedly said that granting a wage hike at this time could make the local sector less attractive to business operators.
But Allen argued that what would make the sector uncompetitive is the exodus of the best workers.
“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,” Allen reasoned during her contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Upper House on Friday.
She indicated that improved wages for persons in the hospitality sector would cause a mindset shift “from seeing tourism as just a ‘work’ to tourism as a ‘career’”.
Allen also told her colleagues in the Senate that the tourism sector should take note of the recent ruling by the court in relation to private security guards being employees and not independent contractors.
“It is important that operators within the sector familiarise themselves with the details of that ruling and prepare proactively for what may be on the horizon as a result of that ruling,” she said.
The opposition spokesperson said the country bends backward “like limbo dancers” for visitors to experience a life that is foreign to many Jamaicans.
“Tourists must be safe, but too often we are not safe. Tourists must have access to the best healthcare should they become ill, but we don’t have access to quality and affordable healthcare,” she said.
Allen said that when the Jamaica that local people are exposed to becomes “clean in the streets for Jamaicans, safe in the towns for Jamaicans and healthy in the hospitals for Jamaicans”, then the occasional travel advisories that can send shock waves across the sector will end.
She added that at this point, the country will become much more attractive, safer, more vibrant and the choice for foreign nationals desirous of an escape.