Deon Green, Gleaner Writer

Lord Bill Morris, trade unionist suggests that workplace recruitment policies be placed under scrutiny. - file

Jamaican-born trade unionist, Lord Bill Morris of Handsworth, United Kingdom, says there is need to examine the possibility of discrimination in the workplace against black Caribbean women.

He also recommended a look at recruitment policies to ensure that qualified candidates are not being denied work on the basis of ethnicity.

Morris, who is also chancellor of the University of Technology in Kingston, was reacting to reports from the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) in the United Kingdom last week that Black Caribbean girls and women are among a group of ethnic minorities in Britain excelling academically, but who face poor prospects when they enter the job market.

'Heavy penalties' at work

The EOC report stated that, despite the performance of Black Caribbean, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi women, they face "heavy penalties" at work including low pay, poor job prospects and fewer job opportunities.

"While there have been changes and the situation is getting better, it is not good enough and not fast enough," said Morris in a Gleaner interview.

"Indeed, the job market in the areas where black people have traditionally been employed, the low-paid, low-skilled areas have become saturated due to immigration from the eastern section of the European community."

The trade unionist said that, because of the European factor, ethnic blacks could see even further deterioration of job prospects.

"Because of such migration black people can get themselves pushed down further in the dungeon of the employment market and black people will have to move up by acquiring the necessary educational skills and compete better in the job market than before," he said.

"Much of it is orientated around the price of labour and if an employer can get labour at equivalent status but cheaper in terms of wages paid, economically they will go for the cheapest."

Based on the (EOC) report and the competitiveness of the labour market, said Morris, it might be necessary to examine the possibility of discrimination.

Legislative aspect

Said he: "We need to look at the legislative aspect to see if discrimination is indeed taking place at the point of recruitment as that is where it is to be stamped out if that's where it is."

He cautioned, however, that there may be too many people seeking employment without having the necessary skills, qualification or experience to be competitive in the current labour market.

The EOC found that two-thirds of employers in areas with higher than average black and Asian populations do not have a workforce reflecting their ethnicity, while a third employed no black or Asian women who face different experiences in the workplace to that of white females.

The report added that the latest statistics show that young black Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are more likely than white women to be unemployed and less likely to be in senior roles on the job.

- business@gleanerjm.com