LABOUR Minister Pearnel Charles says he doesn't believe Jamaica's participation in the agricultural work programme with the United States is in jeopardy from the anti-outsourcing policy of president-elect Barack Obama.
"I don't see that the pronouncement of the new president is a threat to us, to the category of workers we are engaged in dispatching to the United States," he said.

Speaking with the Sunday Observer yesterday, Charles said he met with US senators and congressmen after Obama presented his plans, and was assured that the local programme would be continued.

"I am satisfied that our programmes are not in jeopardy because the jobs that are offered to the Caribbean are jobs that most Americans are not available for - because of the skills required [and] the pay required. For example, the picking and packing of apples," he said.

Obama has articulated that part of his plan to revive the US economy is to dissuade companies from outsourcing jobs by offering tax breaks to those that hire inside the country.

The details of how the plan will work are not yet known, but it has implications for the economies of Jamaica and other developing countries which have employment arrangements with the United States.

Presently, there are nearly 10,000 Jamaicans in the US and Canada under the agriculture programme. Outside of that, the US makes 66,000 jobs - mostly in the hospitality industry - available to countries around the world each year. Of that number, less than 20,000 are recruited from the Caribbean, according to Charles. This year, however, no recruitment was done under that programme.

But the labour minister is optimistic. He says he believed the programme was suspended on account of the recently concluded elections - which will see President-elect Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th president of the US in January - and that they will be continued.

"We have been assured that provided the American investors or businessmen require workers from the Caribbean, and follow the procedure as we've been doing over the years, that no effort will be made to block that," he told the Sunday Observer.

"There is crying need for workers right now, but we are waiting on Congress to give a quota for overseas workers and we are assured that right after the election the senators and congressmen we are in contact with will be looking at the regulations to make sure that we are back on stream where we need to be... so we still expect to enjoy that opportunity and the Government of Jamaica is following it very closely."

As for the rest of Obama's economic proposal, which centres around digging the US out of the economic slump brought on by the sub prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent collapse of several financial institutions, economist John Jackson said he didn't think they would have any immediate impact on Jamaica's economy.

"I'm not sure to what extent his policies will affect us. Those things don't appear to be all that major in the scheme of things, I don't know how long lasting they are. It's only a portion of the plan he'll implement so it's difficult to look at a portion of the proposal put forth and come to any definitive conclusion with regard to what the final conclusion will be.

Meanwhile, the labour ministry said it was currently engaged on an overseas employment initiative for Jamaicans who have been made redundant. Tight on details, Charles said 350 candidates, 50 of which are heavy duty mechanics, have already been preselected by the ministry and are now awaiting recruitment by overseas employers.

"One of the programmes set out by the ministry now is to record the workers who are being made redundant in Jamaica and we propose to send as many of them abroad under the Canadian work programme that calls for skilled workers.

"So while the meltdown is taking place, we are seeking to relieve its effects with overseas employment," said Charles.

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