WHY IS A WORKER A MIGRANT?
Why should a 'Migrant' have to climb a wall or dangerously cross an ocean when the people on the other side of the wall or the water needs a person who wants to work?
Actually they do not need a 'migrant' they need a worker, instantly productive who needs to
work to feed their family, educate their children and has the enthusiasm and related attitude to work hard. His goal is to earn enough money so that he can return home to a family that has been educated and fed by his work and perhaps saved enough to open a small business.
These skills are needed in most regions of the world. The skills do not include wall-climbing!
When the season is over, he or she will go to the next job wherever that is and in whatever country with the added benefit of international experience.
This is not an American Problem it is a Global Reality that will require a Global Solution.
The workers cannot get to the jobs that need to be filled everywhere because they are inhibited by laws and regulations that assume that,
- Workers are migrating for life.
- Workers are immigrants.
- Workers are invaders.
The workers would prefer not to emigrate from their country or immigrate to another country,
they would prefer to stay home and work or go to where the work is, safely, for as long as it lasts, and then return home safely or move on to the next job. They have skills that are needed and are in short supply. They range from doctors and engineers to farmers, restaurant and hotel workers to construction and hi-tech trades.
The politicians think this is 'migration'. It is not migration or an invasion, it is the natural supply and demand of global labour. In my view, as a person that has lived and worked in thirteen countries in the hotel & resort industry, the global community will need to re-invent the world's borders and frontiers to permit the flow of labour to the work, wherever it is and for the duration of the work period, thereby permitting the repatriation of funds, poverty reduction, education of the worker and labour growth in the receiving nation.
My own exposure to this enormous issue was as CEO of the Paris-based International Hotel & Restaurant Association, the official spokespersons of the global hospitality industry as recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
One of our most pressing issues was the shortage of 12 to 15 million workers worldwide.
Needs were loudly identified in Europe, Asia, the Americas by our Global Council of Human Resources made up of Vice Presidents of Human Resources of international hotel groups' that teleconferenced monthly for 60' to identify & resolve common issues. This Global Council committed in 2005 to address the issue formally through a 'global consortium for human resources' consisting of,
- International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) Chair
- International Organisation on Migration (IOM)
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
- International Organization of Employers (IOE)
- United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
- International Association of Labour Unions (IALU)
The conclusion of the first meeting that took place in Geneva was that the consortium would work toward satisfying the demand for workers and easing the bureaucracy that inhibited the movement of workers and would start with a period of one year with a test of 10,000 workers with the following goals and standards,
Mission.
To eliminate the shortage of hotel & restaurant staff by matching workers to jobs for defined periods thereby contributing to financial and other benefits to both 'sending' and 'receiving' nations, enriching the lives and the education of needy workers and their families.
Workers would be regarded as temporary.
Workers would be paid at the same rate of pay as local nationals.
Employers would fund the round-trip transportation & assist with lodging.
Officials from the sending country and receiving country would be identified to coordinate the logistics.
Officials from Tourism & Hotel Associations would be coordinators for both sending and receiving countries.
The consortium would establish a computerized system to match supply to demand and generate a data-base of best practices.
Receiving country benefits
Labour supply would always be sufficient to meet demand,
Additional income tax flows to the country would be politically advantageous,
Labour volumes would rise and fall to meet seasonal demand.
Employers would be contributing to poverty reduction in the sending countries.
Sending country benefits
Rapid educational training of an experienced labour force,
Repatriation of worker funds,
Reduction of poverty (including crime etc),
Increase in the quality of health (mental and physical).
The global need therefore is a 'systematic reinvention of the world's borders'. The fences and walls would remain as antiquities of the past that would be replaced by technology that would identify and match workers with jobs.
Employers would provide transportation and training, pay a living wage and collect income taxes, facilitate lodging and meals and assist in the repatriation of funds if necessary. They might encourage young workers to further their experience in other countries and gain promotions from this valuable experience. This I was encouraged to do as a young worker in England...........and it worked.
Employees might surrender their passports on arrival at the local police station and collect them on their departure. This I was required to do as a Brit for my winter season in Switzerland........ and it worked.
Hotel Associations might assist young workers to identify jobs in other countries and facilitate their transportation. This I did through the British Hotel Association for my transfer to Switzerland........and thereafter to France......... and thereafter to a dozen countries.......and it worked.
My own experience of living and working in those countries did not involve my having to climb one wall, or convince any immigration officer of my future intentions because I was there because I was needed. The system recognized that. My documents proved that. The government welcomed me. Their tax collectors welcomed me. The employers welcomed me.
There was no facial or iris recognition, no WWW or computers or connectivity or any of the things that could assist us to link a worker with a job and with the associated opportunity to pay local income taxes and even buy a fare home after the season is over.
Not treated as a migrant, an immigrant or a job thief. Not as an illegal ..........but as a contributor. A learner initially. A teacher eventually.
But no-one ever can fault me, the system or the apparatus that facilitated my jobs that could not be filled at that time by the local labour force.
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