Up Front
CTA to propose standardisedbasic wages for hospitality industry
From left to right: Roy Bodden, McKeevaBush, Orrett Connor and Rod Mcdowell
Following a meeting late Monday December18, of the Cayman Tourism Alliance (CTA), immigration and Governmentrepresentatives to discuss the Immigration Board's recent policydirections regarding basic pay requirements, it has been confirmedthat the hospitality industry is willing to guarantee that allworkers are paid a reasonable hourly wage.
This wage should be sufficient for individuals to support themselvesas required by the Immigration Law and as recently stated by theImmigration Board. However, due to seasonal fluctuations in gratuities,as well as vast differences in pay scales and pay structures amongthe various businesses, it has been agreed that the CTA will pollits members and make recommendations to the Immigration Boardfor the setting of new guidelines which will standardise the basicpay to be received by workers according to their category of employmentin the hospitality industry.
Present at the afternoon meeting were members of the ImmigrationBoard, the Chief Immigration Officer, Mr Orrett Connor, the Secretaryto the board; the Minister of Tourism, Commerce, Transport andWorks, the Hon. McKeeva Bush; the Minister of Education, HumanResources and Culture, the Hon. Roy Bodden; and CTA President,Mr. Rod McDowell.
It was agreed that as part of the review process, the CTA willmeet with the ministers early in the new year.