Letter of the Day | Holidays are not a key contributor to our productivity problem

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Recently an acquaintance of mine made a comment that as a nation Jamaica does not need these frequent public holidays. His statement gave me pause and for some reason my inner Jamaican almost found it offensive. I replied that his position is coloured by his status as a private business owner and employer who has the convenience of being able to set his own work schedule and to come and go as he pleases. I also shared that the vast majority of employees in Jamaica don’t enjoy that luxury and gladly welcome any break they are afforded by a public holiday.

The truth is that many persons are working tirelessly every week day and living from weekend to weekend. However, the weekend is often an inadequate reprieve as it is filled with household chores, errands and conducting any business that they could not get done within the work week. Holidays provide some respite and well needed rest for those who have a poor work life balance.

CULTURAL IDENTITY

More importantly, public holidays provide opportunities for Jamaicans to collectively celebrate significant historical, religious or cultural events. There are also various common cultural practices which surround some of our holidays for example the eating of fish or bun and cheese at Easter, applying a fresh coat of paint to our homes on labour day, attending Grand Gala on Independence or attending Grand Market before Christmas which form part of our cultural and national identity. Jamaicans are also more likely to engage in leisure commerce activities and domestic tourism on public holidays as evidenced by the typical bumper to bumper traffic on the North coast during the Easter and Emancipendence weekends. The truth is, Jamaicans love a holiday.

The argument has been made that there is reduced national labour productivity arising out of frequent and close public holidays. The Private Sector Organization of Jamaica referred to this as “holiday hangover” specifically in relation to Emancipendence week in August and the common practice of workers taking additional days off work between Emancipation and Independence day. While this is acknowledged, comparatively Jamaica has the same or less public holidays (10) than most of our Caribbean neighbours for example Trinidad & Tobago (14), Guyana (15) Barbados (12),Cuba (10); as well as more developed nations the USA (11), Canada (10). Greater focus should be placed on increasing the skill level, capacity and welfare of workers to improve overall national labour productivity. Holidays are not a key contributor to our productivity problem and should be seen for what they are, days of commemoration or celebration that form part of our cultural identity.

PAYTON PATTERSON