Landscapers Work Permit Moratorium Lifted
Today [Mar.29] the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Patrice Minors announced the moratorium on work permits for landscape gardeners will be lifted.
Minister Minors pointed out that “it has always been and continues to be a top priority to ensure that Bermudians who are currently unemployed are properly placed in jobs where there is a need”.
She said that the Ministry takes a “balanced approach to work permits. This approach ensures that the needs of our employers are met and that Bermudians have ample opportunities for jobs.”
In February 2011, the Ministry introduced a work permit moratorium for the categories of landscape gardeners, cleaners, kitchen and bar porters, housekeepers and skilled labourers.
“In total, 157 jobs were created for Bermudians as a result of this policy,” said a statement issued by the Ministry. “The landscaping moratorium has also resulted in new institutions being formed and training opportunities created to help Bermudians.
“One involved the creation of the Landscapers Association which has been working closely with the Ministry these past several months to address industry concerns regarding staffing levels.”
As a result of this dialogue, Minister Minors said, “During the moratorium period, the Landscapers Association have been very active in advocating on behalf of the industry, working to establish training standards and proving to be a valuable stakeholder group, and we want to applaud their dedication and commitment.
“And in a show of good faith on the Ministry’s part, I intend to lift the moratorium on ‘renewal applications which have not reached term limit’ for the landscape gardener category.”
In an effort to spurn interest at an earlier age of career development, the Landscapers Association has agreed to collaborate with the Department of Labour and Training in the establishment of a summer training programme that will see young persons from our senior schools afforded the opportunity to work for pay with member companies of the Landscape Association. Details of this initiative will be provided in due course according to the Ministry.
Minister Minors added, “It is felt that this early introduction to landscaping and a possible broader career in horticulture may prove of great interest to participants and in due course lead to increased enrolment in the Horticulture program at the Bermuda College.
“Those who are presently interested in this field are encouraged to enrol in the next Bermuda College course which will run from May 14 to July 13, 2012.”
Participants must attend classes Monday to Wednesday from 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and participate in the on-site practical training on Thursdays and Fridays.
In closing the Minister encouraged anyone who is currently unemployed to contact the Department of Labour and Training insert contact details and hotline number (297-7631) to become registered and take part in any training services they may need.
Flip………
A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out.
For example, Animal rights activists and conservation authorities may request a fishing or hunting moratoriums to protect endangered or threatened animal species. These delays, or suspensions, prevent people from hunting or fishing the animals in discussion.
Another instance is a delay of legal obligations or payment. A legal official can order a delay of payment due to extenuating circumstances, which render one party incapable of paying another.
IN THIS CASE IT WAS FOR BERMUDIANS YOU FOOLS..
Flip flop flip flop..
Finally realising that no, a landscape business owner cannot keep a succesful business going if he has to rely on hiring lazy @sses who, if they even show up for work after they get the wakeup call of real work for the first 2 days on the job..
I tell you!!!
How is this flip floping? It was a moratorium, it was never meant to be permanent. 157 jobs were created for Bermudians, are you not happy that your countrymen found jobs?
And why all of a sudden these people are lazy? How do you what type of job they had, they type of worker they were before hard times fell upon them?
So quick to call them lazy…. I know why you would though.
flip flop
Exactly, you got it it right…
Wee Pow said it right
Lets have a new beginning , PLP DONE .
I wonder how many of those 157 people have already quit those jobs?
Thats what I’m talking about. Wee Pow seems to be in denial.
An obvious trait of the P know who…
Are you talking about black people.
So tired of the PLP ‘flip flopping’ back and forth. Election must be close at hand as they’re obviously trying to mend fences with all those that they’ve screwed over lately …. seniors, landscapers, land owners. Do they think we’re all blind and cannot see what they’re up to? Frankly, they’re just making it that much easier for me to put my next ‘X’ in the OBA box …. no more PLP for me ….. I’m going to X-press myself on election day and give them an X-press ride out of here!
And Minister….please tell us how many of those 157 jobs created are still held by Bermudians.
Tourism, IB, Landscaping, Restaurants …
What industry can the Pee el Pee destroy next.
The leaders have no clue how to run Bermuda….they make a decision and change it…Patrice Minors needs to stay out of politics…. she makes a decision and in a few months changes her mind….how the hell can we vote for this women ?
The Government is to be applauded for this policy.
Effective use of work permit controls and this moratorium policy was the right step, and has resulted in more bermudias being employed!
you are joking…just wait till the end of the summer and see how many of those 157 still have jobs..
I am not happy there still should be a moratorium this is just the time of year they should have it not impressed. I am a Bermudian that has their
own landscaping business
Hmm, its a tricky one. I’m hoping though the moratorium is off, they aren’t going to just start appoving permits.
However there are a limited number of Bermudians who want to do this work, just like there are a limited amount of Bermudians who want to be doctors, lawyers, actors or anything else.
Once again
FLIP plus FLOP equals FLIPFLOP
FLIPFLOP plus PLP equals FLIPPLoP
FLIPPLoP FLIPPLoP FLIPPLoP FLIPPLoP FLIPPLoP
A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out.
For example, Animal rights activists and conservation authorities may request a fishing or hunting moratoriums to protect endangered or threatened animal species. These delays, or suspensions, prevent people from hunting or fishing the animals in discussion.
Another instance is a delay of legal obligations or payment. A legal official can order a delay of payment due to extenuating circumstances, which render one party incapable of paying another.
157 jobs eh…don’t believe that one. Oh sure the Labour Dep might have sent out 157 people for jobs but how many of those were in the job revolving door because the people sent before were not employable.
Was talking to a landscape busines owner yesterday who has more work than he can cover but will be out of business in a few months because he cannot get reliable skilled people. Way too much time is spent having to deal with the labour dep rather than supervising projects & serving customers.
Flip flop flip flop oh what a mess the PLP has made…again.
Of course you wont believe. Funny, I was talking to a B’dian who owns their own landscaping business and they took on a few B’dians and are happy with their work.
Rory,
Honest people are in short supply. OBA supporters have an issue with honesty. Don’t listen to them.
People want the truth, not the spin. I couldn’t care who was in power, whoever is there will get flak when the spin or mess up.
@ Rory, Thanks for saying so, because some people will attempt to continue having us believe that all Bermudians are incapable of doing anything…and that we don’t know any better, cause they assume we too don’t employ workers.
Carefully screen your potential employees and skill-test where necessary (Bermudian and non-Bermudian), because there are also employers who have stated they have hired non-Bermudian workers who were incompetent, falsified applications etc to be hired, and henceforth ordered back on the plane to their home country because they obviously were unable to perform the task they applied for.
FlipityFlop.
157 jobs. Prove it. Let’s have some of these gainfully employed people and their employers give the testimonials that this policy worked.
“In total, 157 jobs were created for Bermudians”
The jobs were already in existence; therefore they cannot be created out of thin air for the sake of a political sound bite.
Thank God. No more hack jobs on Bermuda’s gardens by lazy idiots, who have no clue.
Lovely typo… “in an effort to spurn interest.” Spurn means to reject. I think they mean spur.
Reminds me of the foreigner I played in football who said he wanted to wipe my a$$. He meant “whip” my ass.
The only place in the world where we run our own people down really sad:-(!!!!
Anybody who is employable has got a job. Period.
99% of all others are unemployable.
Grow up Bermuda and face the facts.
You whine thru your Government and Unions about not getting the job you deserve but not one of you is creating jobs, giving jobs paying paychecks.
The world was put here for you right?
just to provide you all with a tit to feed on.
Grow a set and live up to the standards we see from the foreign labour.
Can’t lay block that fast? don’t know how to landscape or wash pots boohoo
No pity anymore, sick of your slacksadaisical attitudes.
I run two businesses and agree with you 1000%. 99% of those who are unemployed and have been for more than 3 mos are UNEMPLOYABLE. There is a reason they don’t have a job for more than a few days / weeks…
You have to see it to believe it…
Well said.
PLP on the take again. People just face facts? It matters not who is in The House.. They ALL answer to one Master? Money.
Oh BTW landscapers are having a hard time because their wel to do customers are Not honoring their Bills!
I love the way they say “157 jobs were created”. Really, new jobs came out of this?
All this government does is put in one policy then take it out. This once again proves they have no foresight and no forward planning. This government rules on guess-work and we can no longer afford the lack of knowledge, knowhow and foresight. Ms Minors is just as bad as Minister of Economy, as she was tourism minister – she should be like the rest of the flipflop bunch and to what the PLP stands for – P lease. L eave. P olitics.
I am presently looking for a job I am a hard working person who needs little supervision,self motivated,honest,time maker, willing to do work from labour,sales,hotel workor any type of work, I dont need a permit I am bermudian… if you know of anything please respond..Thanks
Good luck, as long as people like Joonya and triangle drifter are out there you will be another ‘lazy bermudian’ no matter how much of a hard worker you turly are.
We’d like to see your resume to see if we can help. Send to the address noted.
Good luck @ looking for a job. Given your post I believe you should also add resourceful and creative in your list of attributes! I sincerely hope you find something soon.
If everyone was like you, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Good luck, mate – hope you find a job!
@ Looking for Job…
I agree with Govt Mechanic and others on this one, keep at it and something will come, I have just taken on two people so can’t help. Good Luck.
But the private sector has to set up the training! When, oh when! will this government, and Bermuda, take responsibility for its future. Governments worldwide are responsible for the training of their people so that they can get jobs in the private sector, which creates wealth,which they then can tax. It is NOT the responsibility of the private sector to set up needed businesses and then be forced to train people to work in them. This is why this work permit crap is a nonsense. It is a political tool, will never create jobs, and in fact has cost Bermuda 1000s of job losses in the last several years. Dear god, bring us people with some smarts!
Stop knocking and labeling all Bermudians as lazy. Some of the foreign workers can’t even read or write and pay for their own worke permits because they really want to come to Bermuda and work. They all know how to run to Moneygram to send the money they make back home. I have seen some of them steal the fruit and vergetables from where they are working and once saw some foreign workers sit off in the shade to eat their food before working and drop the bones in the yard and leave them there. Witnessed recently a landscaper mow over a patch of lettuce. He said he didn’t know it was lettuce. So to all the Bermudians just make your time and be receptive to learn.
Laziness cannot be hired No way no how
This is great lets be honest most Bermudians don’t want to work under the hot sun as i have noticed because Ive worked with many Bermudians and all they complain about is the heat while the Portuguese and other foreigners get on with their job one Bermudian even said he quit construction because he couldn’t handle it. Ive been working construction since the age of 14 i was raised to work hard by my Portuguese parents unfortunately many Bermudians aren’t the same don’t get me wrong there are a lot of hardworking Bermudians but Bermuda need the Portuguese and the foreigners
and you have some of these landscaping companies that hire foreign landscapers…and guess what? They also use the same foreign landscapers to clean offices and restaurants.
@ Renee,
I hope you have reported any of these actions that you know of to the Immigration Department.
@Rory. Whoever you’re talking about must have a pee wee business. When Bermudians learn how to secure a job and keep it, rather than abusing the employers by calling in sick, showing up late, not showing up at all, stealing time, etc., we might see a better Bermuda for all! A TRUE landscape company who depends on customers, can’t afford to babysit grown men and women! The customer DESERVES great service! Renee, take your big foot out of your mouth! If you know of illegal activity, report it! Don’t get on sites such as this and make asinine comments and then do nothing! That’s what’s wrong with Bermuda today! There are more hard working Bermudians than not, and many of them are employers! Good for Miss Minors. Let’s just hope she, along with the rest of her Ministry, gets rid of the six year term limit. This has caused more damage then necessary, causing Bermudians to lose their jobs and businesses to close. Not good for the economy at all! Out of those 157 jobs created, I’d like to know how many are still employed. I can bet not many are, or will be, within the next few months.
@Awake…my foot was never in my mouth and I have made it known to the “powers that be” of of this illegal activity.
You are quite unkind…
@ Awake,
Even in these tough times many people are still not getting the fact that they need to be ‘on the case’ with their jobs. Especially as our clients are having a harder time in justifying any expenditure that they feel could be better spent elsewhere. I agree that most Bermudians are hard working but there are too many that cannot separate their personal issues and hangups from work time, add to that a lack of education and drive and that is a large percentage of many of these persons that fall into the menial labour workforce.
Put these same persons into a job that they have little interest in and a desire to do and well … the evidence speaks for itself. I own and run a landscaping company so no one is going to tell me about the mind set and lack of worth ethic of too many that have come through my gate, and no amount of wishful thinking nor Govt Policies will change a person who does not wish to work in this field to begin with, it’s up to them.
Having said that I have had a few of my foreign workforce that have ‘not worked out’ for similar issues as well, they where soon sent packing. Some not even seeing out their probationary period of three months, these though tend to be the exception and not the rule.
@ Renee … Goods for you on reporting those breaches, unfortunately I would bet Immigration did little about it. I too have had reason to report suspected breaches and a known breach by one of my own employees, sadly the persons dealing with it did such a poor job I vowed to rely on a video camera instead of relying on the Dept’s. incompetent and or ‘don’t give a damn about doing our job’ employees.