We need to be concerned about people’s dignity and quality of life
THERE IS palpable optimism in every nook and cranny across the country about the economy because Jamaica is in a really good place right now. Though things are far from perfect or where we need the country to be, quite a bit of what’s happening is worth celebrating.
We can all agree, if we are honest and mature enough, in spite of our political loyalties, on this simple fact. You can see and feel it.
The economy has not collapsed as a result of the $1.5 million tax plan (though some said it would). We have had 17 consecutive quarters of economic growth. We continue to surpass our revenue targets. The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) reported the lowest-ever rate of unemployment in history. So positive is the economic outlook that the Government cut some taxes to facilitate even more economic activity this year.
Last month, as a result of carnival activities, we recorded an increase in visitor arrivals for the events and a total of $1 billion was pumped into the economy. The minister of tourism, Ed Bartlett, reported recently that we now retain $0.41 (up from $0.30) of every US dollar spent by tourists. Of note is the revelation by him that the highest retention in the world is $0.60 in India, and in the Caribbean it is $0.50 in the Dominican Republic.
Evidently, we are reaping the benefits of the prudence by the previous
People’s National Party (PNP) and current Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administrations and work by successive ministers of finance – Dr Peter Phillips, Audley Shaw and Dr Nigel Clarke – to the economic reform programme that we waited on with bated breath for so many years.
However, while we celebrate the positives, we cannot lose sight of the reality staring at us. I think there are some things that we ought to be talking about, if even just a little more. The matter of employment is one such issue that should enjoy our collective and constructive interrogation as a nation (even while we make a fanfare of the progress).
POOR WORKING CONDITIONS
Note, I, too, am among the Jamaicans jubilantly celebrating all the positive things taking place but I cannot allow that to ignore the less-than-adequate conditions under which many people work.
According to STATIN, unemployment is now eight per cent of the total labour force of 1,340,200 people. This means that as at January 2019, 1,232,700 people were employed, up from 1,219,200 in October 2018 when the survey was last done. Construction and “wholesale and retail repair of motor vehicles” account for a significant percentage of the increased employment, with 122,700 (up from 117, 200) and 270,000 (up from 260,200), respectively. Some sectors like education, agriculture, hunting, forestry and fisheries, and health and social work, have recorded a reduction in the number of employed people.
The numbers are great, but I can’t help but wonder about the quality of the jobs that people are employed in, the amount of money they are being paid, the number of hours they are actually employed and the general conditions under which they work. How do the majority of people employed fare? Do they enjoy a dignified life and can improve their livelihood? Can they take care of themselves and family adequately, including affording leisure?
Despite his shortcomings, Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips has been alluding to the situation (perhaps not very effectively) since his party’s annual general conference when he talked about the significant number of workers who are earning minimum wage, which is not even enough to get them to and from work or to pay for their child’s elementary education. In March, he spoke about contract labour which substitutes “full-time employment that comes with real benefits” and thereby “deepens the inequity in our society.”
BETTER WILL NOT COME
Sadly, given the current state of affairs with our laws, better will not come for many of those who are employed. The bar is low because the law allows for these things to happen.
In October 2016, MP Dr Dayton Campbell, in describing himself as an economic justice advocate in his State of Constituency Debate presentation, spoke about this, where minimum wage and low-income earners are concerned. He expressed that “the rights of employed persons in Jamaica are safeguarded in a piecemeal fashion by a kaleidoscope of laws which unfortunately has gaps and loopholes in protection. I commend the current administration/government for ratifying the International Labour Organization Convention 189, which deals with the issue of domestic workers.”
One wonders when we will get it fully right. When we will not allow ourselves to be so blinded by big statistics and begin to appreciate some granularity in the data being reported. Doing so does not mean you are bitter and trying to throw cold water onto the work being done by the Government. It’s simply an acknowledgment that duty-bearer have to constantly challenge themselves to ensure better for the people they represent.
It has to be about more than the big numbers. We have to be just as concerned about people’s dignity and quality of life as we work towards becoming the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.
As Winnie Byanyima, executive director at the UK-based Oxfam International, said in a discussion with a Sillicon Valley investor, “The quality of the job matters … don’t tell me about low levels of unemployment, you are counting the wrong things. You are not counting dignity of people. You are counting exploited people.”