Union leaders from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominica, Jamaica, St Lucia and the USA met to consider the challenges facing tourism workers and how the labour movement might respond.
Tourism is an important component of Caribbean economies, yet too often the value created by workers does not stay in the region. A number of companies based in North America and Europe generate large profits which are shifted elsewhere without benefitting the areas in which they operate. Coupled with an employment model characterised by informal labour and workforce fragmentation, the sector is perfectly primed for exploitation.
The Caribbean unions are being supported by partners from countries in which the major tourism companies are based. ITF and IUF – our fellow global union federation representing food, hospitality and other service workers worldwide – are fully behind these efforts.
