THE EDITOR, Sir:
I AM writing in response to a letter published in this paper on the 17th of January 17, 2003, entitled 'Why the Highway 2000 protest'. One of the points Mr. Harrison makes is .. "The Jamaican worker needs to know that in today's world of globalisation he can be displaced by more efficient workers even in his own country".
Why is this so? No contractor in South Korea, France, Belgium or the United States could bring in truck drivers and claim globalisation. The country would come to a standstill. It is important that we understand the implications that globalisation is having and will continue to have on our economies but we should not blindly jump on the bandwagon and sacrifice our jobs to the god of free trade.
I, too, would appreciate a good journalist investigating why there was industrial action. If the drivers were unreasonable in their actions we should explain why they are unreasonable, come to an acceptable arrangement and get on with the job. We should not be quick to give away their jobs to foreigners. On the broader issue of globalisation, I propose that we adopt the policies of the people who benefit the most out of it, the Americans and Europeans. These countries will support free trade in anything that they hold a decisive competitive advantage in. And in order to gain this competitive advantage they are not above going against free trade principles.
Therefore, the average subsidy received by a soybean farmer in the United States is US$37,000 ($1.6 million) per year. Can you then look at a Jamaican farmer and say that he needs to be more efficient and compete with this. Get real. Reference the Americans' reaction when China heeded their advice and became more efficient at producing steel. They imposed tariffs.
I am not advocating that Jamaica begins imposing tariffs as we do not have the political muscle; we cannot afford it and it generally doesn't get to the intended recipients. What I am saying is that we do not be so quick to snuff out the livelihood of Jamaican workers in the name of globalisation.
I am, etc.,
DAVID PEARCE
dpearce@strath.ac.uk
Glasgow, Scotland
Via Go-Jamaica
