Thursday, July 27, 2006

The recent news that the Department of Employment Relations is seeking to take legal action over the blatant and deplorable exploitation of security guards, demonstrates that we need to put a stop to some of the worst excesses that appear to be going on here in the labour market.

For the skilled professional expatriate workers who can sell their talents and experience to the highest bidder, life in the Cayman Islands can be a real bed of roses, but for those at the bottom of the work force pile, employed in particular in the security sector, life is unbelievably miserable.

The report that some workers were earning as little as $3.33 per hour may not actually be a crime but there are few that would argue it is criminal.

Reports also suggest that some people are forced to work more than one hundred hours per week and can still not make ends meet on such low rates.

The debate over minimum wages raged for some time in Europe in particular and the main stumbling block to its implementation across the European Union was that some pundits feared that minimum wages would cause unemployment.

In most jurisdictions this has not been the case and both the United States and most EU states now have some form of minimum wage.

With very little fear here of mass unemployment we can afford in the Cayman Islands to consider implementing some kind of acceptable level of minimum payment.

It is clear that employers are not conducting the best practice or considering the interest of their employees without enforcement, consequently legislation is the only thing that will protect those at the bottom of the economic pile.

Regardless of the complaints of those in the security industry that their profits are already low, this cannot justify paying human beings so little for their service.

The vast majority of those employed in the sector are from developing nations and it is quite clear that employers are taking advantage of their poverty and tying them into positions here that are essentially untenable.

Absolutely no one with any kind of regard for human dignity could say it is acceptable to pay a man or a woman only $3.33 in this country.

It has also been reported that some domestic workers could earn as little as $2.50 per hour.

As one of the most expensive places to live anywhere in the world, such incredibly low remuneration means that it is literally not possible for these individuals to survive.

Sadly too many of them are unaware of their rights and do not realize that they can report their employer for making them work such long hours, without breaks and for not paying them overtime rates, among other things.

The main issue though is that it is not actually illegal for the employer that is paying his guards only $3.33 per hour and it should be.

While those employers who have exploited and mistreated their workers in terms of over- time can be prosecuted, without a statutory minimum wage justice cannot be served on employers paying such low wages.

The Department of Employment has said that it will prosecute employers that break employment regulations. However the Department cannot prosecute where there is no law to break.

The Cayman Islands should be collectively ashamed of this exploitation and something must be done to ensure that this type of thing cannot continue.

Anyone that comes here from overseas, be it for vacation or for work, eventually when they return to their native countries become ambassadors for this country.

Just image what the employees of the company that paid $3.33, is saying to anyone who will listen.

Government must act now and introduce a reasonable minimum wage that is affordable for small businesses, but will also allow employees to make a basic living. Moreover,

employees exploited by their employers should be encouraged to speak out when they know that they are facing abuse in the workplace.

The culture of fear of the work permit needs to be lifted and the Department of Employment Relations needs to begin an in-depth extensive campaign to help all workers understand their rights and stop those employers who abuse the system from taking advantage of
those who cannot help themselves.

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