Trade unionist Caswell Franklyn is calling on Government to tighten what he says is an immigration loophole which is allowing people to literally “walk off the plane and into a job” while Barbadians struggle to find work.
He was commenting yesterday on two notices which appeared in last Thursday’s DAILY NATION and the last SATURDAY SUN. They stated that having received no suitable applicant for the position of warehouse clerk and shoe store supervisor, respectively, it was the intention to submit for a work permit for a non-national to fill the positions.
Any objections, the notices added, should be made to the Chief Immigration Officer in writing within 14 days of the filing.
The notices have also evoked responses from Opposition Senator Ryan Walters and executive chairman of the Barbados Consumer Empowerment Network (BCEN) Maureen Holder.
Franklyn said he feared erosion of the Barbados passport, the National Insurance and Social Security Service, and the labour market. A former immigration officer, he said Government was making unnecessary changes to the immigration laws to “facilitate big spenders who only want a Barbados passport and then they’re gone”.
He noted: “Now you don’t even need a passport for some of these countries and people are coming and Bajans not getting the job because the employers do not pay proper wages, one. Two, they don’t pay national insurance and the people who come here they don’t pay national insurance either because they’re going back home, so they’re not looking to pay a national insurance pension and the employers are saving.”
Franklyn said one of the ads asked for someone who could speak Gujarati, the language of the Gujarat state in India, adding he was of the view that it was “somebody looking for work for their family in India”.
“Government will allow it, they always allow it. You have people who come to work in hotels and we train people in Barbados and then they just cannot occupy a senior management level job for whatever reason,” he charged.
Walters aired his view on his social media platforms.
“Whenever I see advertisements like these I am stumped! Am I to believe that no suitable applicants can be found for positions such as warehouse clerk, warehouse assistant, sales associate and store supervisor?” he asked.
“With so many young and experienced Barbadians struggling to find work, why would there be a need to import labour for these jobs? How is it possible that in a country facing serious youth unemployment, employers are seeking work permits for jobs that many of our people are qualified, capable and willing to perform?”
The Democratic Labour Party spokesman on finance and economic affairs added that given the amount of money Barbados invested in education and the willingness of people to learn, it was difficult to understand why young people were being told there were no jobs, yet there were advertisements for positions which did not appear to require any skills.
Holder told the DAILY NATION while it was not a consumer issue, questions had to be asked about the advertising process because managing a warehouse and a shoe store were not highly skilled jobs.
“Government seriously has to look at it because it might be a case where the thing was not advertised properly so that Barbadians could apply for it, or it could be a case that Barbadians were working in various positions and they were being exploited,” she said.
Work permits
“We don’t know, you see, but if that is going to become the norm, then we have to train Barbadians and upskill them to fit in certain positions that these people are applying for work permits to import labour, to import people to do the job.”
The question was posed to executive director of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation, Sheena Mayers-Granville, last week when she appeared before the Joint Select Committee (standing) examining the Barbados Citizenship Bill, 2026.
When contacted yesterday, Mayers repeated her comment: “I receive positions advertised and the process that exists is the one that persons will have to follow, and ultimately, the Immigration Department will, the officials will do their job.”
Her response prompted an explanation from Chief Immigration Officer Margaret Inniss, who was also in Parliament.
“If you submit an application and you are denying a Barbadian or a CARICOM person, we will ask to see the applications and the rationale for denying the person,” Inniss said.
She explained the applicants’ qualifications were reviewed by officials before any decision was made and not every employer would be automatically approved for a work permit.
Meanwhile, Walters said he would like to know what efforts were made to recruit Barbadians, the number of local applicants, if they were deemed unsuitable and how many such permits were approved in recent years.
“Barbadians are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for a fair chance to work in their own country,” he said. (SAT)
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