VIslanders need not apply; You are not wanted!-SFC Report
This unprecedented information, but to many not surprising, was revealed by the Acting Labour Commissioner Mrs. Janice Rymer. She was at the time testifying before the House of Assembly’s Standing Finance Committee (SFC) 2012 hearing for her Department’s budgetary allocation for 2013.
Mrs. Rymer explained before the SFC that there was the on-going issue of employers who had already chosen an individual to fill a position in their organization and, although the department sent persons on interviews, “the applicants were not given a fair chance to be placed in the position”.
The Member for the fifth district, Honourable Delores Christopher, queried whether the individuals who the employers preferred to fill the positions were Virgin Islands as well to which the Acting Labour Commissioner Rymer confirm that the “individuals were persons that required work permits.”
Under the Labour Code Virgin Islanders and Belongers do not require a work permit, therefore what Mrs. Rymer was saying is that employers prefer expatriate workers over locals.
Unfair treatment of Virgin Islanders being worked on-Rymer
The Member for the first district, Honourable Andrew A. Fahie, queried whether the department had the opportunity to address the unfair treatment of Virgin Islanders who worked in Trust Companies as stated by the Minister for Education and Culture Myron V. Walwyn, where he said that person’s job descriptions were reclassified and their positions were made redundant and some were dismissed from duty.
The Acting Labour Commissioner informed the House select Committee that her Department has had individuals who came to them and made such claims. For those persons who had came forward and made a complaint the department, according to Mrs. Rymer, “was in fact working on resolving their concerns or issues.”
Mrs. Rymer further informed the SFC that some of the said issues were already resolved. She also stated that the department would conduct an investigation based on the information that was received by any individual who had an issue or concern.
Honourable Fahie asked whether it was safe to conclude that the matters were solved, to which the Acting Labour Commissioner replied “that for the persons who made complaints to the Department their matters were being resolved.”
Youth not being placed in jobs; Only 24 placed out of 466 registered with Labour
Another interesting fact told to the Committee by the Labour Commissioner (Acting) is that youth are not being placed in jobs.
When asked by the member for the eighth district, Honourable Marlon A. Penn, about the number of young persons the department was able to place in jobs by the Labour department, Mrs. Rymer told the committee that in 2011 there were 466 registered applicants with her department and she did not have the numbers for 2012. Out of that number, only a mere 24 applicants were placed in jobs by her department.
It is unclear whether this is a different programme from that of the Minister for Education and Culture Myron V. Walwyn’s unemployment initiatives for youth, in which he has been on a public relations offensive over. However, the numbers from the Labour Commissioner on persons placed by her Department are not impressive.
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90 Responses to “VIslanders need not apply; You are not wanted!-SFC Report”
Matter is very right. no local is going to put up with the kind of BS expats put up with. And why should they in their own country
Now as to put aside the formal English, aw gon say, Tiz juz good for aryo. Aw been saying for years that these employers-bloakes, trailer park trash and others from the Kingdom and elsewhere have no use for our people except for them to be their "haulers of water and hewers of wood"!
We had alot a local aging moo-moos in times past running around trying to convince those of us who have lived elsewhere and have experienced first- hand the discrimination of whites that there is no racism in these Virgin Islands(British).
Fortunately, I have plenty of family here that work in all areas in this society and have relayed to me the discrimination that they have faced in these industries by whites. I've been convinced then and now that there is a subtle undercurrent that is trying to displace our people. Always remember the aging and the old is dying out and our young people is the future. And it seems to me that our leaders have not gotten that.
They're still doing lunch, trying to maintain diplomatic relations and island-hopping with those folks who have had no prior relations with blacks and other minorities in the land where they've spent their formal years and in most cases have done nothing to foster better race relations in those lands.
For if you visited the neighborhoods and social circles where most have spent their formal years ,you will realize that not one of them have had any positive relations with blacks and other minorities except in condescending and derrogatory situations where they-in most situations-were task masters against them.
Sadly, smiling faces, and employment incentives given by our leaders with those people after all these years have not increased their love for our people!
It's sad that a report such as this is needed to jolt the brains of our people to realize what is actually happening here. But sometimes, sadly, "shock and awe" is exactly what is needed.
Hopefully this report will galvanize our leaders to realistic action to realize that our people, Virgin Islanders(B) and Belongers-young,old and in between-is the future of our country and not those whose bones will never bury on any of our soils next to our ancestors but instead to lands unknown and in some cases, the homelands of the mangroves, plankton, corals and marine wildlife!!!
@ausar I agree with you. But I will take it even further. It's not just the white discriminating against us. It's our own members of parliament. We have our hon. MV, he hires philipinos over locals. We have the various local companies choosing to hire philipinos over locals to fill such positions for accounting and managers, even though we have qualified bvislanders for such positions who spent hard earn money to put them through universities, but because their qualifications commands a certain salary scale the locals are bypassed instead for cheaper labour.
Our standard of living is deteriorating rapidly day by day, week by week. If we allow persons to continue to populate our country and undermining our own economy soon we will be worst off than the country they came from. BVI is for BVIslander first. We have to protect our borders and our standard of living. Not to succumb to the livelihood of the others.
BVIslanders we need need to develop good work ethics. Not because we're bvislanders gave us the right to a particular job/position. Our attitude sucks big time. How can we expect to be respected and given jobs when we don't respect ourselves nevermind others. If we take care of ourselves as pertaining to work then we can begin the fight for the positions we are being overlooked for. I'm not saying to have slave-like mentality, but what I mean is show up to work when you're supposed to and on time. Stop making excuses every day for being late and for heaven sake, when you're to work actually do the work you're being paid for. Learn every aspect of your position and do it to the best of your ability. Stop idle gossips and loafing about the offices. When we get our minds program to these things then the excuses for hiring above bvislanders will stop.
BVIslander
The part of the equation you all conveniently leave out 99% of the time is whether the small percentage of locals who apply for hospitality and domestic jobs are qualified to do them. You cannot walk in with your passport and tell me you ready to serve people at my high-end establishment. Further, you will find it's people that have no other choice that apply to such establishments (locals). How many locals do you know that studied hospitality and can't find a job? How many locals you know right now that are willing to make that their career and start as a dishwasher, waitress, bartender at the the beginner stage, where they're paid a small wage because they're just learning? The problem is that they feel that a local salary should start a certain level regardless of whether the business can afford to pay them for their level of input and productivity. This has nothing to do with locals, it has to do with attitudes. Any a$$h...le knows that a business benefits most by hiring locals despite the foolish perceptions. When a local qualified and comp;etent person is hired there is no permit, labour, immigration, housing, ticket back home, uncertainty as to whether they would return home never to come back and thus affect ur business. u don't have that issue with a competent local. All the local qualified accountatns have a job. All the local qualified lawyers have a job. All the local qualified persons in hospitality, chefs, waitress, bartending etc. have a job. show me these people being taken advantage of. You can't, because they don't exist. There is a difference between leaving out BVIslanders and lack of interest shown by them. If locals don't apply they can't be hired. I don't know many locals running down restaurants looking to be a waitress or kitchen helper, do you? And if you do, telll the truth as to why they can't get and keep a job. We know the real stories out here about locals. They don't have to worry about labour, immigration or anything else so they do what they want on your job. Do you that is fair? it is not. keep up this $h!t and watch more business move to Sri Lanka and other places like already started. then what will the locals do?
A high school graduate filipino can spell the words correctly. Does a bvi islander HS spell correctly? You speak english but not the standard english which all educated persons understand. We do math perfectly well. Asians have been known worlwide with good working ethics.
Philippines is just not in deep s#it as you spread lies in your comment. You better read GNP's and GDP's of each country, and look where your BVI stands versus us.
STOP CALLING US "PHILIPINOS" THAT WORD DOES NOT EXISTS. What you mean probaly is "FILIPINOS".
The most important trait that we have that you do not have is that we know how to respect and treat our employers.
We are here and all over the world because resources are not enough in our country, AND THE WORLD NEEDS US.
You have the nerve to talk about GDP when the biggest export product of your country is prostitutes, sex tourism, maids and priests.
You cannot force people to hire someone they don't feel is right for the job or who is not qualified for the position.
What is the reason behind this preference for outside workers? Once we can answer that question, then we can take steps to rectify the situation. As an employer, I would much rather hire locals than outsiders because the work permit process is a major pain and can be very disruptive!
However, I have had very few locals apply for jobs even when advertised for much longer than the requisite 3 weeks. Of course, the jobs we offer are all manual labour or skilled positions such as engineers, draftsmen, electricians, plumbers and the like.
All I can say is that it is very difficult to find locals willing and/or qualified to do the jobs we offer. From an employers point of view, it is really frustrating that we almost always HAVE to hire from outside, whether we want to or not! What is even more frustrating is that once here, these very decent (non-indigenous) people are often treated rather poorly and made to feel quite unwelcome by the very people who believe that many of the jobs we offer are beneath them! It is difficult to keep staff in such an environment.
I believe there is a LOT of work to be done to remedy the current situation. It is no small problem and the "fix" must begin with the preconceived notion that manual labour is beneath our people. If our youths were not predisposed to shake their heads and say "Nuh man, that ain't for me!" ~ perhaps there wouldn't be so many young men out of work! In a BALANCED SOCIETY, there is a place for everyone! Our problem is that everyone wants to be the chief and nobody wants to be the Indian! How can we function without Indians?
Born here
Get out of here with that bull$h!t! Government CANNOT tell private enterprise who they can and cannot hire. Locals want to be able to hire who the hell they want but a foreign company with a base here should hire who Government tells them to? Let me tell you something I'm a local but I'm not stupid and I'm not afraid of reality. I base my opinion on fact not emotion. Government has over 4,000 people employed and 95% are local. Tell me one good thing coming out of Government. You can't get stats on anything. No action on anything. Everyday is some problem, 3 people doing 1 person's job. Losing files. Excuses every minute. Bad manners, ridiculously unmannerly service etc. etc. So, while we do have a lot of qualified and hard working locals, we need to face reality. Why with over 4,000 people in our civil service, we can't even get half-decent service? Do the math. You all need to change your attitudes. In this globally connected and technological age, there is no reason for people to hire within BVI. entitlement attitude will kill ya'll...
Thank you for being a voice of reason as usual, although I don't always agree with you, you've said it all. I won't even comment further except to say that people will either get with the program or get left behind. Ignorance and bad attitudes will continue to be the detriment of these poor islands.
So it's okay for you all to act all patriotic telling businesses to hire local but nobody can force you all to shop local? That's bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just like how you all boast about the advantages and savings from shopping in St Thomas, PR and USA, businesses also have advantages hiring who they want. How is it different? I don't get your attitudes. Local businesses should hire you so that you can spend the money overseas. NONSENSE!! Fair is fair. Yes, I agree where a BVIslander can do the job they should get it, that's simple sense. But qualifications isn't just betting a BS or MA, it's being well rounded and able to execute the job at the end of the day. Look at how much 'Qualified' people we have in Government, many with PhD, but yet we sinking deeper and deeper in stupid s#!t. Let's get a report on how many locals with degrees we have at Government. Then let's ask, with all those degrees why we aren't getting better value and services from them.
So yea, you all spend your money where you want, businesses can hire who they want. It's the same thing. If you want Government to force businesses to hire locals then the Government should raise the departure tax to $50.00 and double duties charged for those shopping in St Thomas. Same businesses you all bashing is where you all run for sponsorship for shows, when your child sick or when you want deals. GO SIT DUNG! Go Cost U Less see if they don't walk you round the back door with your s#!t about sponsor. LOL!!
They come to work when they feel like or the call in sick every week, nonsense and you have non BVI Islanders who are willing to work. Another issue is that you offer the local jobs and they want you to change you company policies to suit them.
Their work ethic just stinks. I am sorry for those who are willing to work.
Because we put our God and family as the center of life, we have the best working attitude and make the best out of faults in the workplace.
Just observe in Riteway, the cashiers wear long fake nails. You expect an employer to hire people like that.
Most carribean people STUPE alot. You expect a business in customer service to hire people like that.
We were under the spaniards for 300 years, but we do not use that as excuse for not working with good ethics since we experienced "slavery."
You have certificates and papers to show your qualification, but you do not know how to apply what you learned in Florida and wherever you got your paper in the real world of workplace.
Ok, I need to work today. I do not want to be late. Bye locals.
The bottom line is, people can only come to your country and do what they are allowed to do. They need work permits and they get them. Who issues them? Once most people from away establish them self in the VI they pave the way for their other country people. They have their national or ethnic groups that look out for each other. While many employers employ expats so they can exploit them, some locals have contributed to the problem with their awful work ethics.
@ Really....if yo do not like kissing you boss' a$$ then leave you job. LOL. LMFAO.
Second question - if expats are more and than locals in question 1, ask the reason for that?
All the locals here will get their answer why they are not being hired.
Simple as that!
To all BVIslanders, thank you for welcoming us in your beautiful island. I assure you that my countrymen work 101% to serve you in the most loyal manner. We are apolitical people. We know how to behave as a guest in you country.
If you do not need our service anymore, we are willing to go and find another nich in this world we live in. Like you, we work only to raise our families.
Sorry if we do defend once in a while our country from bad comments. It is human nature.
I believe that this bad comments did not come really from true blooded 100% locals. They came from other carribeans whose jobs are threatened by our presence.
THANK YOU BVISLANDERS. I HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU CAN VISIT OUR COUNTRY PHILIPPINES IN THE FUTURE SO YOU CAN EXPERIENCE FIRSTHAND OUR HOSPITALITY.