Premier names Connolly to chair work task force
Premier Alden McLaughlin on Cayman 27’s The Panel
(CNS): Premier Alden McLaughlin has announced the creation of a new programme and task force to tackle Caymanian unemployment, which he has described as his government’s Achilles heel. With 8% of the local workforce unemployed and around 21,000 work permit holders, government is launching ‘ReadytoWork.ky’, a project that will encourage employers to take on locals with minimal risk. McLaughlin said the task force would be chaired by the employment ministry councillor, Winston Connolly.
In a move likely to ensure loyalty to the administration from the only remaining independent government backbencher, following the departure of both Anthony Eden and Alva Suckoo to the opposition benches, the premier has revealed the latest plan to address unemployment an area of specific interest for Connolly.
Speaking to Tammi Sulliman on Cayman 27’s discussion programme, The Panel, on Thursday evening, the premier said the project was not about writing more reports but finding ways to place locals in jobs that are going to permit holders. He said the task force would be chaired by Connolly and will include private sector members of the main industries as well as people from the work permit boards. They will work with businesses to cut the risks for employers trying out local workers that might not fit the exact mould and encourage workplace training, with support systems in place and back-ups if workers don’t turn up.
McLaughlin said that not all businesses have done everything they can, as claimed by the Chamber of Commerce leadership, which has been “insensitive to what is a genuine national problem”. He said they are too quick to say they have done everything they ought to when they have not.
The premier said he had recently received a letter from the Chamber, which is calling for consultants to be brought in to overhaul the National Workforce Development Agency and they want to be on the steering group, but he said that was not the answer.
McLaughlin said the number of people who turned up for the festive clean-up work programme demonstrated that hundreds of locals are willing to do menial and low paid work and his government was now willing to make immigration policy changes .
“We are aware of significant misuse, particularly of the temporary permit situation. They are being applied for in circumstances we believe Caymanians can do the job,” he said, adding that it appears bosses are taking out temporary permits in succession for different expat workers instead of trying locals.
He said many of these are jobs that locals can and would do if they were given the opportunity. According to the latest immigration statistics published in November, there are more than 3,700 temporary permits currently in effect.
McLaughlin pointed to a number of issues that he believes are leading employers to apply for permits instead of giving Caymanians a chance. In addition to the perception that unemployed Caymanians must be unemployable, which he said was not the case, the perception over how easy it is to get permits is a major influence. The premier said he believed that human resource managers who have not been here very long do not understand or empathise with local unemployed people and they are rejecting locals who are not an exact fit to the job criteria.
The premier said he believes his government has been very business friendly, with its critics saying it is too business friendly, but he indicated that the administration now intends to take more direct action, as he thinks the business community can and should do more. However, the Progressives are not calling for a revolution regarding the work permit regime as some of the opposition independent members have called for.
“We are just asking business to help us employ Caymanians,” he said.
The premier does not believe that, with so many permits in effect, the business community, with a little effort, cannot find space in the workplace for several hundred local people, even if they don’t have every skill required.
With some businesses going so far as to bring in people to teach foreigners better English, he said they are in a position to invest in some on-the-job training for locals.
Category: Jobs, Local News, Politics
Winston Connolly just said on Radio Cayman that he never accepted to be chairman of Alden’s new employment task-force because he had already accepted another role and cant do both.
Did the Premier speak with him before making this big time announcement? Not very organized to be honest.
He should start a working group to implement the work group in order to get people working. Trouble is, cant find anyone to work there.
Another Task Force? What has any of the other Task Forces or Committees accomplished as of yet..
As I predicted a few days ago, Winston Connolly is being buttered-up. That Cabinet seat promise is still in the cards!
I think that Mr Connolly could turn the page on PPM , by putting certain bills to the LA to be able to effectively do the job. If they are not passed then who would be at blame?
Alden rubbing a whole pile of Brylcreem on Winston now to make him just as slick as him. poor old PPM is holding on by a single piece of dry rotten thread now! Desperate times call for real desperate measures eehh ???? Highwater ReduX
How many non-Caymanians are employed by government? Clear those numbers before you start imposing on the private sector.
Those non Caymanians are generally employed because they have skills not present on island due to the appalling education system. If you want a completely non functioning government-go ahead.
Alden the puppet master and Winston the puppet. Or is it that Alden is now grand master of the free masons ?
The PPM doesn’t have a clue and neither does Winston! Apparently, when he “had jobs at his office” he couldn’t help anyone then so I don’t have much hope. This bunch … task force and work forces … all doing nothing for the people.
Thats what Alden believes locals are good for cleaning streets and mopping floors unless its his lawyer cronies. This government is so out of touch and clueless. 2017 I pray you hurry !!
Winston I really can’t believe you have fell for this. Don’t you see Alden is just looking someone other than himself to blame. Winston my good friend you are done as of now politically. You have accepted a post to solve what 20years of successive Governments havent been able to fix and you have what? A few months. I thought better of you than that
No mission too difficult no sacrifice so great, put people first. Political careers are made for this.
I mean like’ no general I cannot attack that hill because some of my troops may get hurt.. Sorry country I get paid to play it safe?..
If I thought Alden was doing this to help anyone I would congratulate Winston but this just kills two birds with one stone. Put winston i charge of something that you will ensure he will not succeed at and if he by chance does you have bought him and he will have to walk the short and narrow with the PPM…Bought and paid for, I’d say!
I hope he doesn’t ask for any work permits when he gets a recycling contract from DEH for the upcoming landfill contract. I bet when he needs a permit for his company Junk they just give it without question
ALL of this is typical electioneering rhetoric. While I agree that the NWDA is about us useful as chalk on a white board- this task will have ZERO effect until we begin teaching our children in school that there is more to the workforce than jobs in offices and with suits and ties. If we take a holistic look at the inmates in Northward, I will bet my salary that 70-85% of the inmates, who are Caymanian are there because of a lack of education and structure. The NWDA is a farce and has no desire to truly make an impact on the unemployment situation- in fact they are operating with NO legal backing as the last I read, employment matters are contained in the Labour Law.So in effect, this office is running in an unlawful manner. The staff are hopeless, the Director cant be understood, the Manager is as lost as lost can be and one staff who has been pretending she has been doing something for the past 20 years continues to dress and impress while doing absolutely nothing. Unemployment will get no better until staff begin to be measured for performance.
If ever there was a comment that had merit……this is it. I have attempted to assist my nephew through the NWDA and a birch tree would have been more helpful than ANYONE in there. This department needs to be scrapped and unemployment dealt with by some other entity.
Winston has a nerve accepting this task. As councilor in the education and Labour ministry whenever he was asked about employment his answer was always that he does not deal with employment as the councilor but he deals with education. A cop out then to assist and now he is being placed in charge of dealing with unemployment. The PPM and their cohorts are a joke. 2017 should hopefully weed them out
Please replace the security guards at t government building with Caymanians.
And again Mr Premier, how come Government can hire work permit holders, how come the Government Administration Building has over a dozen “work permit holders” from a certain company doing security, how come hotels can hire their own security guards “work permit holders” and not go through NWDA or a Caymanian Security owned company, how come the Ritz Carlton can hire “work permits” to do housekeeping and laundry, how come the CI Government can hire “work permit” holders to pick up our trash? The list is endless….how come Government allows a “certain” security company to get government contracts, ie police container which got robbed without bidding it out? We don’t hear about that one anymore now do we. Until Alden can address this, don’t come to us the private sector and take away our work permits, when Government are the biggest hypocrites of all time…
Police has over 160 permits, Education Department over 170 permits, HSA Department over 200 permits … you’re looking at between 500 to 600 permits in three government departments.
Before we can address the private sector establishments like KPMG with about 150, Security Center about 160, Marriott hotel 180, Fosters Supermarket about 330 permits, and Ritz Carlton with over 400 permits … still we are no better. Our government is doing exactly what they are doing.
You could put Kirky on the front door.
The real question is: Why does Al Suckoo hate gays so much?
He does not hate gays. He does not agree with recognition of same sex marriage or unions. He has said that many times. It is his democratic right to support or not support proposed decisions. It is your democratic right to support or not support proposed decisions. If you want recognition of same sex unions then elect leaders who will enshrine it in law – which is also your democratic right.
He has published his comments and they are not hate speech. They are his position and as we all are, he is entitled to his position. He didn’t incite hatred or violence against homosexuals. Homosexuals have a right to advocate for what ever rights they want. Likewise, those who disagree have a right to disagree. That’s the whole point of democracy. Some don’t want religious views shoved down their throats, some want religious views to prevail.
If you want to make a difference then run, become elected and set out to change the status quo….don’t simply spend your time commenting on news media and expect your wants to be granted by someone else. If you want recognition oh same sex unions in Cayman then organize and make it happen!
He believes that some people should be treated as second class citizens in their own country. That is hatred, no matter how much you rationalize it.
A lot of haters are in fact gay themselves trying to fight the urge.
Good political move, if it work is PPM baby, if it doesn’t (most likely scenario) Winston gets the heat. I shouldn’t be surprised but doesn’t he see is being used?
More reports and horse trading by PPM.
As a former Minister of Labour doesn’t the Premier have any solutions to the problems? We now understand why Winston Connolly did not cross the floor in the LA he was promised relevance and power.
Ironically, how does that makes the current Minister of Labour Tara Rivers feel is she being made redundant by her PPM Cabinet colleagues?
Tara has been redundant since the day she took office. Embarrassed to admit I actually woted for her.
Unfortunately, it was the vote our household could cast in West Bay. Total fail.
ReadytoWork.ky Is not an operational URL #irony
Hope you see where your work permits are heading.
This will go by the wayside as other government programs have done. The NWDA was created but why isn’t it working? The immigration board gives and revokes right to work of spouses, but that doesn’t work either. For a start, the current boards and ruling bodies that govern employment need to follow their own rules. They need to lead by example.
Why don’t the employers have to account back to the NWDA as to why they didn’t hire a person. That is part of their process.
If immigration takes away your right to work, why does Government continue to employ the person. Let’s start at the top.
Regulate the Temp Agencies who all apply for temporary permits for their staff just to get them on Island and to cash in.
3.05 if you had any idea what you were talking about you could be dangerous.
How are the 1000 Christmas street cleaners going to fill 21,000 work permit positions?
For those that finished high school, the ESO’s official unemployment figure is 5.6% as of Sept 2015, which we should all agree is nowhere near 8% http://www.eso.ky
Just keep them cleaning the streets, it’s obviously a popular job.
Is it Mr Connolly that said that he would not cross the LA floor to join PPM party ? Why is the premier putting Mr Connolly in a other power position? The election must be coming up why we want more campaign funds raised, and more people to the party.
e is already the tent by being a counsellor. Now Alden has got him by the short and curlies – if he says no to the appointment, it looks like he doesn’t care about unemployment, one of his favourite subjects to criticise the government, and every time he opens his mouth the Premier will say he could have run the task force to sort the problem. But if he takes it, and it fails, he is silenced. And if it succeeds – however you measure success; is it just me or is it likely that we will see a few employers encouraged to “employ” unemployed people – and their replacements if they don’t turn up – doing nothing work so the PPM can claim unemployment has gone down – the PPM will grab the credit. Sneaky play by Alden.
Another Good move Mr. Premier.
Agreed, put the young educated honest Caymanians in responsible positions and there will be less room for 5th grade buffoons.
Fixing the National Workforce Development Agency is not the answer, just create another parallel structure that will do nothing but double costs. Great solution Mr Premier! How nobody thought about that before?
Well said Mr. McLaughlin!
Education and training, education and training, particularly in the realities of a working career and what is expected and problem will be solved, but it will take time. Freeing up the work legislation will also do more to foster understanding of what is expected. Protecting a work force just gives you a mainly lazy work force as they don’t have to do anything because they cannot be fired. UK suffered that disease in the 70’s.
Finally, action. I hope the report is swift, and public.
The job discriptipns are corrupt with intent to influence the voting when foreigners become voters attempting to create a majority whose intrest is to destroy indiginous people livelyhood creating another South Africa in Cayman. Regulate job descriptions and there must be Cayman paid apprentiseship and online overseas paid college degrees if the local universities do not have the degree needed based on a local committie certification of the job description. Prior to advertising and permits the job description must be proven and certified to be legitimate without criteria intended to disqualify local applicants. Then there must be an apprentise in training paid and given a scholarship by the company to ensure the temporary permit is temporary and does not lead to voting rights. This is what locals elected local to do which is do do what First Premier Bush did to look out for Cayman’s income, retirement and homes. This has gone too far and we need protections that are not corrupt.
Oh dear lord! Everyone must just give, give, give God forbid that anyone actually has to WORK to gain the grades to EARN a scholarship or apprenticeship. Nooooo, everyone owes a Caymanian a job because they are Caymanian. Fix the sub-par education system, teach the kids to be responsible and accountable and instil good work ethic at a young age. No one owes you anything!
Crab in the barrel judgements and notions of fairness are taught early. It is actually instructed in non-IB Primary Schools – specifically, Cayman Primary Social Studies Textbook and Workbook 4, Chapter 2. An entire chapter on Caymanians, Non-Caymanians, Citizens, Ancestors, Seafarers, Pirates, Settlers, Migrants, and Descendants and the differences and commonalities between each classification and who belongs where (2008 edition amended the further distinctions between Born and Paper Caymanian which had been there from 2004). For extra impact, kids are still asked to bar chart the ratio of Caymanians to non-Caymanians. Chapter 3 includes a section on Human Resources – with 4 pictures (a Barber, a Cashier, an Office Worker, and a Radio DJ) and asks the primary school kid (who just moments before learned what a proper Caymanian is) what they think their appropriate qualifications should be for those careers. Then a section on “what is a Tourist?”, and “write down your ideas on ways visitors to your area should behave”. Chapter 4 asks kid to correctly sequence a frame-by-frame purse snatching, and overleaf has pictures of the various criminal court personalities you will meet – oddly, the only one smiling is the defence lawyer. I wish it were a joke. This is the most up-to-date 2008 version – in schools now! This is what is being taught.
What we need are people in the workforce that have, at the very least, a basic grasp of proper grammar.
Bush king of the Hutus
Very Funny!!!!
Oops!!!! Looks like you spoke too soon- I think he has finally lost it.