Virgin Islanders: Discriminated & Neglected in their homeland?
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – With the unemployment rate among young Virgin Islanders a startling reality, many Virgin Islanders are of the strong view that there is consistent discrimination of them which is a major setback to securing jobs with the lack of enforcement of the Labour Code where Virgin Islanders should be the preferred employees and lack of initiative on Government’s part to offer adequate training to help qualify those who are not, to fill vacant posts.
In interviews conducted with several Virgin Islanders, many did not want their names to be published, citing issues with their jobs and discrimination for taking a public stance on the matter.
Former legislator and outspoken community activist Alred Frett said he would not call the treatment met out to many Virgin Islanders in the work force as discrimination, but "neglected unnecessarily".
Mr. Frett’s main contention is that Virgin Islanders have to be prepared to be in the work force and it was the leaders’ responsibility to ensure that is done.
“… you will either try to fit a square peg in a round whole or a situation of anonymity, they will feel by their birthright they are entitled to positions in their country whether or not they are qualified for them. It is the leaders’ responsibility to ensure that they qualify their people to take up those positions. Their failure to do so can be why they are ignored, it’s not that they are discriminated but the neglectfulness. I am not too sure that the locals are provided with the necessary tools to be able to perform in the jobs.”
Regarding whether there should be some sort of protection in the Constitution for Virgin Islanders, the outspoken businessman bluntly stated that, “the thing is that all jobs, should first of all, second and thirdly be available for BVIslanders as far as I am concerned. And I will say especially indigenous BVIslanders because those persons are not likely to have as much affiliation with outside interest as persons who may have acquired their Belongership through gifts.”
As for high profile government positions such as those of Permanent Secretaries and Attorney General, Mr. Frett believes for that national security and other reasons, it would become necessary for locally qualified Virgin Islanders to be in those “sensitive positions”.
While he sees that the onus to ensuring job security lies with Government, he also sees that Government seems to be flouting the law that they created by hiring from outside rather than go through the process of offering training to Virgin Islanders to take up the jobs if they are not qualified for them since Government has the resources to conduct such trainings.
“… it is government who select non-BVIslanders over BVIslanders. And to tie that in, this is exhibited when they entice recruitment overseas by private companies, and recruit those persons from the companies that got them in, they are continuing the same trend. When what they should be doing is training those people to do those jobs as they have the resources. And it reduces the incentives to train someone, so for government it’s easy to find someone to fill that post so there is no rush to train someone.”
Mr. Frett also found that certain jobs that are somewhat reserved for Virgin Islanders such as fishing and taxiing, the benefits from those categories are being diminished to a “point of stupidity” and one case where he will call it discrimination.
“Because BVIslanders need to get a fishing license to fish in his own backyard. At the same time, you will see the stores selling fishing tackle for tourist without the need for that requirement, that one appears to be discrimination. Because locals have to get that. If they see us fishing on the rock and we don’t have a license we can get fine.“
Government's role is to prepare Virgin Islanders for jobsFor Natalio Wheatley also known as Sowande Uhuru, he doesn’t believe that Virgin Islanders are outright being discriminated against in general but what he can say for sure is that the government has a responsibility to help their people to seize opportunities to be able to look after themselves and feed themselves economically, not only by ensuring that they have jobs but are prepared for such jobs.
He does recognise that there is a serious problem in that regard, and if he was to rate the situation with 10 being the highest, he will rate it at 20. “I think it’s definitely a problem that is contributing to the social problems we have in the community.”
“We have to make sure that our people have jobs, but also have to make sure that your people are prepared for the jobs and I think in that area we have not been as strong as we should be. Added on to that, we have employers in the country who sometimes may not want to hire Virgin Islanders for whatever reasons, I have heard it said that there are some employers who like to use the work permit as a means of power, as a means of control, creating fear in their employees and I believe that could be true in some instances,” Mr. Wheatley stated.
According to the former candidate of the People’s Patriotic Alliance (PPA) who contested the 2011 General Elections as an At Large Candidate, many employers would say that Virgin Islanders are not exhibiting the qualities required to do well in the work place, and he would say that is because of lack of preparation. However, he is confident that there are many instances of Virgin Islanders who do work hard, who are very intelligent, very skilled and perhaps they will not get some of the positions they deserve or treatment they deserve. “Sometimes we have employers who despite the talent, skill and education of Virgin Islanders in the work place they would like to give the job to somebody else.”
Going deeper into the problem itself, Wheatley said there are cases where employers try to circumvent the process that is supposed to protect Virgin Islanders, creating unfair requirements for jobs.
“For example, you might require a particular employee to speak a particular language when that language is not required for doing the job but perhaps they have someone to give the job who speaks the language.”
He also firmly supports the need for the laws to be enforced which are evident in the Labour Code. However, he also supports preparing the Territory’s students from an early stage to ensure they are qualified for the available jobs when the time comes.
“… we have to do a better job and I see the government is taking some steps in the education stem that I believe will improve the preparation of students for the jobs even though we have a very long way to go.”
One area that he believes need careful consideration urgently is the bringing in of unskilled workers when there are many unemployed youths in the Territory that can fill those positions.
Who are giving trade licenses to expats?Controversial Talk Show host Donald deCastro who is also a businessman, said Virgin Islanders have a moral obligation to employ their own people, but they also have a responsibility to hire the best qualified people.
At the same time, deCastro said Virgin Islanders also need to qualify themselves for the jobs they want and if not, they have to be able to take entry level jobs and work themselves up.
“Once you get your foot in, you have a very good chance to get the rest of your body in. But again a lot of people here want to start at the top and the only people who start at the top are those people who dig a hole and can dig a whole deep enough to bury yourself.”
Recognising that there are cases where qualified Virgin Islanders are denied jobs, deCastro referred to it as “politricks” where he said those employers are not looking for the best qualified but who can go along with their particular agenda.
“If bring the people from outside they will just come to make the money and go and they will do whatever they want to do, they are looking for a yes person because they don’t have an obligation to this country,” he explained.
Among areas of concern for him is how it is possible for expatriates to get involved in “bed and breakfast” accommodation which is something that local people can do and should be reserved for them. “Where they get all the trade licenses to do this?”
Another area that he strongly supports for Virgin Islanders is the yachting industry where very few are getting involved.
However, while he is of the view that certain jobs must be reserved for Virgin Islanders, he also strongly supports that Virgin Islanders must want it as well, strong enough to be trained and qualify themselves for it and instances to work from the bottom up where that is required.
Lack of Labour Code enforcementCromwell Smith said Virgin Islanders are regularly discriminated against by employers and not just expatriate employers but local employers as well. And while the protection is there for Virgin Islanders in the Labour Code to be given the opportunity to have employment, it is due to the lack of enforcement and employers’ desire to have the control of employees and relaxation on part of labour department that the laws are not enforced.
Smith said he has encountered several young Virgin Islanders who faced discrimination.
According to Mr. Smith, popularly known as Edju En Ka and host of the talk show Umoja, he has also heard of some employers who say they will not hire Virgin Islanders because they don’t have a good work ethics, or they think they are better than anyone else.
However, the general trust of the complains that come to him seems to be regarding employers' ability to extract more work from the employees and to have that work permit control mechanism over the employee .
In addition, he said the salary an expatriate will work for, particularly Caribbean expatriates, VIslanders know that it is not enough to sustain them. “Just like other Caribbean people know but they will work two jobs or will cut back on some of the essentials of life so they can make ends meet.”
As far as the protection of jobs for Virgin Islanders, Mr. Smith also reiterated that all the necessary requirements for protection of Virgin Islanders are already in place within the Labour Code with the term which says BVIslanders or Belongers preferred.
He strongly believes the problem lies in the enforcement of the law, whether it’s a willful lack of enforcement on the part of the Labour Code because of some government’s hidden policy or favourtisim towards employers or just that the government doesn’t have the requisite man power to enforce the law, it seems as though that part of the Labour Code is not enforced as it needs to be.
“ A lot of different things employers get away with discrimination. They set up strategies to get around the BVIslanders/Belonger preferred, sometimes they will have a job description that is way beyond the requirement for the job and the Labour department will allow the employer to get away with those types of advertisements."
“The Labour Department themselves, as a result of corruption, I have seen myself in many cases, where members of the Labour Department allowed employers to treat employees the way they want because the Labour Department employee is receiving some benefit from the employer. Whether its corruption, or hidden policy or is just official that doesn’t care. That part of the law seems to be lacking serious enforcement,” Mr. Smith charged.
To address the situation, the talk show host and activist said he has called before for regular audits of the Labour, Immigration and Customs departments because those are three of the government departments that are more vulnerable to corruption and need regular audits and checks to see how effective and efficient those departments are in enforcing the law and is being carried out and particularly the protection of VIslanders.
Furthermore, he also sees the need for Government to ensure Virgin Islanders are qualified for certain positions.
“All jobs should be Virgin Islanders first,” but noted the lack of enforcement of the Labour Code where there is the provision skills transfer is not being implemented.
“And one of the reasons for the work permit and that art of the code was a skills transfer mechanism that a company opening up in the BVI not being able to find a Virgin Islander to full a position would be allowed to hire expatriates for a period of time and at the same time train a Virgin Islander so that when the work permit is expired that Virgin islander is able to fill that position but that has not been enforced for the many years it has been instituted.“
For Sam Henry, another outspoken Virgin Islander and taxi professional, he believes the system today needs to invest more in education and apprenticeship at a much earlier age in the Teritory’s children since many of our kids are at a disadvantage competing with a more skill workforce coming in from outside.
He strongly believes that certain that relates to government work such as Permanent Secretaries, Attorney General and other highs profile jobs should be filled by VI citizens. “This to me is a matter of national security, protecting the integrity of the institution. In many other countries, foreign nationals are not permitted to hold these types of jobs,” he pointed out.
Mr. Henry who is now a radio talk show host, said government should think about protecting the life of this country by protecting and developing its citizens. “For the people of the BVI to compete globally, we need the help of the government to protect against globalization, speculator, opportunist, and people that have to moral connection to the BVI, but only want to move in the territory for exploitation proposes.
Efforts were made to contact representatives on both sides of the house including Opposition members and Government officials, however, no comments on this issue were given up to publication time, though the content of the publication and its seriousness was highlighted to those contacted.
The views of those who were willing to go on record, can be deemed as a representation of many indigenous Virgin Islanders who did not want their names to be published and can be seen as a fair analysis of the feelings of discrimination among Virgin Islanders and the urgent need to put the relevant mechanisms in place to address the concerns raised which has been brewing for years.
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