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March 16, 2008

Subsidize Another Country, or Fortify the Constitutional Fiber of the Young?

Justin Katz

Perhaps it will serve to advance the conversation about immigration if we're explicit about the choices that we face. To that end:

Carlos Avila Sandoval, the Guatemalan consul general for New England, said his countrymen come to the United States to escape the grinding poverty and a long legacy of violence and political instability at home.

"If you have no food to put on the table, and 10 or 12 children to feed ... it's better for you to go to the United States than to go down to the plantations, and cut sugar cane or pick coffee beans until you die," he said. The money that Guatemalan immigrants make in the United States, he said, can provide a vital boost to the economy in their native country. ...

Of particular interest to the Newport hospitality industry is the number of seasonal workers with H-2B visas allowed into the country this year. Congress put a cap of 66,000 on the number of H-2B visas allowed, but an exemption in place since 2004 has allowed seasonal workers who had previously held the visas to return and not count against the limit. But that exemption has expired, and so far Congress has not renewed it. ...

[Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce,] who estimated that Newport gets 3.5 million visitors each year, said the community has been using "guest workers" since 1794, and emphasized that foreign-born employees do not take jobs away from Rhode Islanders. "We don’t do this [seeking foreign workers] to keep people out of work here," said Tracy Troiano, human resources director for the Hyatt Regency Newport. "If we could hire locally, we would."

And why can't they? I'd argue that, in simplified summary, the reason is that local workers (whether they be teenagers or low-skilled adults) would demand too much remuneration to fill the needed roles, and the cost of doing business is already too high for businesses to meet the employee market demand. If that's the case, then the use of immigrants is not only an economic subsidy to a foreign nation, it's also a release valve for pressure to reform government policies and social indolence.

If the hospitality industry really wanted to emphasize local hires, it would lobby to ease costs and regulations that prevent it from increasing salaries and would come up with creative ways to market job openings to Rhode Islanders, especially the young. Both efforts would bring with them economic and social benefits to the state far beyond the immediate boon of that fortified pay scale.

Comments

Justin,

Newport and RI would like to position its self’s as a “major” world-wide international tourist destination. In doing so, the community as whole and local workers must be embraced and included into the hospitality industry workforce. It doesn’t take changing laws or creating new laws, it takes a change in local mindset. Local people provide extra fabric to the out of state visitor enjoyment and experience.

Keith Stoke and the Newport Chamber of Commerce are doing a good job but there needs to be more involvement on all RI hospitality and lodging industry partners.

RI should start looking outside its boarders to other states for information how hospitality, lodging and tourism is maintained and utilization of staffing with needed workforce.

Hawaii is known as a major international vacation and conference destination. Besides the multitude of foreign workers supporting the hospitality industry here there are an enormous amount of locally employed workers. The Hawaii hospitality and lodging industry http://www.hawaiihotels.org/index.cfm embraces local partnerships by establishing hotel “Adopt-A-School” program with local High Schools to give students real life experience and insight. The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau http://www.hvcb.org/ work hand in hand with businesses making sure there are enough workers to support conventions. Hawaii is tied 3rd place for having the lowest unemployment in the nation.

The Island of Oahu (1 of 8 islands) alone receives over 85,000 international tourists a day. Waikiki Beach on average receives 70,000 tourists daily. Over the years some tourist returned to start businesses (restaurants, lodging, tours) and become US citizens providing services to other tourist in their native language and hiring local staff. All languages are spoken here. Hawaii is the only state in the US that has 2 official state languages (English and Hawaiian); a monarchy, only official palace in US and most all 122 ethnic groups represented by restaurants. Currently 5 additional hotels are being constructed including the first ever out of theme park stand-alone Walt Disney 800 room hotel resort. This type of employment atmosphere develops when all agencies work together.



Posted by: Ken at March 16, 2008 9:26 PM