Observer column published MON 9 October 2017
by Jean Lowrie-Chin
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| WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS: GraceKennedy/ |
Jamaica’s estimated 60,000 household workers now have the
opportunity to join a union which promotes standards beneficial to both workers
and employers. “The Jamaica Household Workers Union (JHWU) is now an official
registered Union with over 5,700 members in 13 branches,” said President
Shirley Pryce at the recent Household Workers Championships. “We educate,
organize, and negotiate collective agreements. We enhance workers’
productivity and promote work harmony. We do mediation services and
training and advocate for the rights of household workers.”
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IT'S AN HONOUR: The Most Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller (right), shares a light moment with GraceKennedy Group CEO, Don Wehby (left) and Shirley Pryce, President of the Jamaica Household Workers Union at the 4th Staging of the GraceKennedy/Heather Little-White Household Worker Awards on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. Dr Simpson-Miller was presented with
a Special Award for Outstanding Service to the People of Jamaica in the Areas of Labour, Decent Work and Gender Affairs.
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President Pryce said the championships “are also very special because
they are named in honour of Heather Little-White.” She noted that she had met
her at Grace Kitchens, “where I was one of her first students.” The inspiring late Dr. Little-White
was her mentor: “She encouraged me and pushed me to complete my Bachelor’s and
Master’s degrees .. I now have an advanced Masters in Labour and Global
Workers’ Rights from Pennsylvania State University.”
Yes indeed Shirley Pryce who started her career as a household
worker now has a Master’s degree and this year was named Caricom Woman of the
Year. As was done by her many mentors, so do we all owe it to our Jamaican
family to be supporters of their dreams for a better life.
For the fourth year, the panel of judges for the Household
Workers Championships sponsored by GraceKennedy had to blink away their tears
as we interviewed the ten finalists. The employers who nominated them declared
them to be nurse, teacher, sister, brother, florist, chef, money manager. They were keepers of the keys: one employer migrated
and arranged with the worker and her family to move in and assist an elderly
relative. Another misplaced an envelope with thousands of dollars and was
promptly called by her worker to return home to retrieve the funds.
This year’s champions are Cherrilene Williams-Case and
Anthony Houston. In their emotional responses, they spoke of the pride they had
in their work. Sadly, too many Jamaicans
do not acknowledge the important role that household workers play in our lives;
it is this disrespect of our humble, hardworking folks from various walks of
life that is manifested in social disorder.
Honour for Former PM Portia Simpson-Miller
Former PM Portia Simpson Miller was
honoured at the event as “an icon of public service and political leadership”
and for her repeated “acknowledgement that the value of the household worker is
inextricably linked to the work you have done.” She received a
Special Award for Outstanding Service to the People of Jamaica in the Areas of
Labour, Decent Work and Gender Affairs. In the citation, GraceKennedy
recognized the former Prime Minister as “an icon of public service and
political leadership in Jamaica,” who used her political and public administration
platforms over more than forty years to “assist people to attain their dreams
and actualize their potential.”
“I am very proud of Ms. Shirley Pryce who has been a
champion and lobbyist for the rights of household workers all around the
world,” noted GraceKennedy CEO Don Wehby. As a result, the ILO Convention C189
that demands ‘decent work’ conditions for household workers was ratified by PM
Holness last September and announced by him at the United Nations General
Assembly. We look forward to the implementation of the articles as we believe
that it is important that we support a life-work balance for Jamaica’s
household workers.
Our leaders have set a good
example. Minister Shahine Robinson, who was guest speaker, noted that her
family’s lifelong household worker Miss Edna’s children were like sisters and
brothers, a bond that remains strong to this day. Minister Robinson said that household workers
had made a significant contribution to the growth of Jamaica’s economy. She declared, “Jamaica simply could not survive without this
important contribution to our households…We salute you for your tireless and
often overlooked work.”
Don Wehby shared that his boyhood caregiver Miss Carmen
later migrated to New York to be with her children who had done well. “Every year for my birthday Miss Carmen would
send me US$20 in a card,” he told us. He became misty as he added, “This was
the first year I didn’t get one, as she is no longer with us.”
