Bajan hotel staffers in Canada worry over status as contract nears ends

Barbadian hotel workers on a Government-sponsored labour scheme in Canada have expressed fears about their well-being, legal status and living arrangements now that their contract is about to expire, Barbados TODAY has learned.

Some 18  housekeepers, stewards, cooks, and bellmen at JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa, a sprawling four-star resort in the province of Ontario, are nearing the end of their one-year contract at the end of May.

But Barbadian officials in Canada have sought to quell their fears, giving an assurance that they will be well taken care of as they weather the COVID-19 pandemic in North America.   

Given the ongoing state of emergency declared in the province, the workers were laid-off prematurely.

A member of the group told Barbados TODAY: “We were trying to get information as a group about where we are going, what is going to happen to us and when our work visas expire and we have not been getting anything definitive either from the liaison officer representing the government of Barbados or the employer.

“So, it seems like both those entities are fishing and are not sure themselves where we stand… when our visas expire on May 31.”

The workers were hand-picked by Canadian employers over a year ago after signing up for the programmes at the Ministry of Labour and undergoing rigorous interviews.

Under the existing arrangement, the resort agreed to finance the workers’ flights to and from Canada as well as their accommodation throughout the duration of their work permits.

Having been placed on the breadline by Marriott sometime in March, the workers are now living off Canadian unemployment benefits while heeding guidelines from authorities to practice self-isolation in their staff housing.

But with the May 31 expiration date swiftly approaching, the concerned worker claimed the workers were being denied clear assurances.

He said: “Some workers wanted to stay, and I believe they may still want to stay, but they are unsure about flouting the laws in Canada. But if I do not have a legal right to be in this country, I am ready to go back home to Barbados.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Consul Liaison Service Officer Ken Mason acknowledged that it was unclear whether Air Canada, which is still repatriating stranded Canadians, would be willing to take the Barbadian workers back home.

But he assured that if the workers are stuck in Ontario after May 31, their needs would be met and their status in a foreign country would not be compromised.

He said: “They will not be left here stranded and we are here to make sure that they are not disadvantaged. Our role in Canada is to make sure that no one who leaves Barbados on any of these programmes is disadvantaged”.

The liaison officer revealed that the workers met with the resort’s human resources department on Friday after which he spoke with them to clarify any misunderstanding and quell lingering fears.

“Once you cannot get back to Barbados, even as a visitor, your status will be regularised and you will not be here illegally because it is understood that you want to get back but there is no way to get back and obviously they cannot arrest you and these workers know this,” he added.

Mason revealed that another ten workers actually started one-year contracts as recently as February this year and another 30 are expected to leave Barbados for Canada’s Blue Mountains Resort once the threat of COVID-19 passes.

“The entire programme is on hold because of the COVID-19. The flights are going southbound to Barbados empty. There are only bringing in cargo and the northbound flights are only bringing up Canadians. So we just have to be patient,” he added.

kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb