April 9, 2002

Dear Sir,

I just read with great interest your front page story, 'Immigration policy failing locals'. I can truly empathise with many of the people quoted in your story, as I too have had my fair share of rejections for being underqualified, overqualified, being Bermudian - I have even had companies sit on their work permit applications until they knew I had another job so that they could "withdraw my application" from their reports to Immigration. (i.e., "No suitable Bermudians applied"). Such are the goings-on of seeking employment on this Island we call home.

Therefore, it was with even greater interest that I turned to the Employment section of the newspaper to see what was on offer today. Imagine my shock at the current ad being run by the Fairmont Hamilton Princess for an Assistant Housekeeper. The ad is as long and as detailed as some of the other ads in the paper for Senior Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, Quantitative Analysts etc.! Now, having worked in the hospitality industry for two of our renowned properties, I can fully appreciate the job of the Executive Housekeepers and their staff. But let's get real here - how can anyone read that ad and not automatically think "it's a fix". Two pages on is yet another Fairmont Hamilton Princess ad for Executive Sous Chefs, Building Operators etc. - equally important positions within a hotel. But with five subsections that ad does not begin to equal the space of the one ad for the Assistant Housekeeper. Hmm, makes you wonder, doesn't it.

With two of our hotel properties in trouble at the moment, White Sands and Daniel's Head, I would like to think that if there are any Bermudian housekeepers who will be unemployed because of the uncertain futures of these properties, that if they apply for the Fairmont position that they will be treated fairly.

I must admit that I am unsympathetic to the complaints from employers that Immigration is holding up their work permit applications. That is, after all, the job of the Immigration Department. It is not their job to rubber stamp a company's work permit applications. It is their job to ensure that any and all Bermudians who applied for that job were treated fairly, and if qualified for the job, to question the reasoning for them not being offered the job.

Derrick Burgess raised an interesting point in the article today. He said "you don't have experience when you leave school, you get experience by having a job". How true is that statement! It is a very convenient excuse to hide behind, when an employer rejects you because you do not have enough experience. The applicant might not have the necessary experience, but do they have the knowledge required for the job? Do they have the ability to apply that knowledge to the job at hand? If so, can they simply be given the chance? That is what we all need to get any sort of job experience, a chance.

Mr. Dale Butler asked some "big questions" in yesterday's paper that truly need to be answered. I for one welcome this "new" Mr. Butler - let us see if he can get his Party's attention. One of the questions he did not ask was: "Why are companies complaining about the delay in getting work permits, when the number of expatriate workers is now at 25 percent versus 19 percent when the UBP left office? How many more do they want?"

I hope that Mr. Burgess and Mr. Butler continue with their efforts to keep the spotlight on the challenges faced by our Bermudian workers. And I hope that Mr. Lister, in his position as Immigration Minister, and the members of the Immigration Board, will continue to question and query all work permit applications and reject out of hand those applications where a suitable and qualified Bermudian was refused the job, simply for being Bermudian.

A CHANCE

City of Hamilton