Jobs that Americans will do

In response to Jonette Christian’s op-ed, “Jobs Americans won’t do?” (BDN, Jan. 4).

After working 35 years in Maine’s tourism industry, I can tell you that Christian has left several key factors out of her arguments.

The first one is the economic reality of running a business.

We would love to pay everyone who works in our industry much more per hour but it is not possible, nor does it make sense. We must have enough money to pay all of our operating expenses including our mortgage and property taxes.

We must also continually reinvest to improve our properties in order to stay afloat in an extremely competitive market – there are thousands of hotel rooms in Maine and hundreds of bed and breakfast inns. We must run our business in a reasonable way to be able to provide our product at a fair price to our guests.

Tourism is the largest employer in Maine. We provide thousands of full-time, year-round jobs that offer excellent pay and benefits, including health insurance, vacations, 401(k), profit sharing and bonuses.

In addition we provide thousands of jobs that are perfect for students working summers or just picking up extra income; semi-retired people who want to stay active and supplement their income; and many others who don’t have to work but want to get out and be with people. These people are more than satisfied with a part-time job that pays a fair wage for the work they do. Not every job in every type of business is meant to support a family.

The seasonality of Maine’s tourism industry is what forces us to bring in foreign workers, not the desire for cheap labor. During Maine’s busy summer season, there are just not enough Maine workers to go around. Maine is beautiful all year round, but tourists want to visit in the summer.

Although Christian quotes unemployment rates of 11 percent for Mainers with a high school education and 21 percent for those without a diploma, in 2003, the unemployment rate in Maine was 5.1 percent (from the Maine Department of Labor). That rate goes way down during July and August in tourist destination areas.

In July and August 2004, the unemployment rate in Boothbay was 1.4 percent. Bar Harbor and Boothbay do 30 times more lodging sales in August than in January, according to Maine Revenue Services, so obviously the demand for staff is huge during the peak season. Most of the Maine hotels that stay open during the winter lose money because tourists have gone south to warmer climates.

It is unrealistic to expect people living in Calais or Millinocket to leave their family and relocate to the coast during the four or so months that a job is available. In many cases, unemployed individuals are searching for circumstances that are similar to their previous work experiences.

Many Maine tourism industry employers hire foreign workers under the H-2B and J-1 Visa programs, with the H-2B being the most common.

Christian claims that there are millions of foreign workers – an unlimited pool. There certainly are not in Maine.

The H-2B program has a low nationwide cap. Employees using these programs go through an intensive recruitment period under the U.S. Department of Labor. Only after the Maine Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Labor certify that incoming workers will not negatively impact American jobs are the workers allowed to work. Bringing in foreign workers is a complicated, expensive, time-consuming process that involves four separate government agencies and much red tape – only to get workers for a few months.

If there were Maine workers available, we would hire them.

The wages paid to H-2B Visa workers are set by the U.S. Department of Labor and represent the average prevailing wage for the duties performed – rates considerably higher than Maine’s $6.35 per hour minimum wage – $1.20 per hour higher than the $5.15 federal minimum wage. Foreign workers pay state and federal income taxes, Social Security, unemployment taxes and other taxes on the money they earn, but they don’t use many state services, don’t have children in schools and will probably never collect Social Security or unemployment. That helps every taxpayer in Maine.

Many foreign workers come from impoverished countries like Jamaica where they work as housekeepers, maintenance, cooks and other tourism-related jobs. Many of these experienced tourism workers are laid off in the summer when business is slow in Jamaica. It is a win-win for a Jamaican worker to come to Maine and make in four months what would have taken them a year to make at home.

It is an oversimplification to say that if businesses paid more the workers would come. More pay may attract workers but ultimately the business must make a profit to stay in business. Pay must be commensurate with the tasks being performed and the service provided.

A restaurant could pay its workers $25 per hour and raise its hamburger prices to $20, fries to $15 and its sodas to $10, but would anyone buy them?

Instead of stealing jobs from Americans, these programs help many businesses that would otherwise have to limit their hours or close altogether.

Finally, the title, “Jobs Americans won’t do?” implies that these jobs are somehow low-class or demeaning. We appreciate the thousands of wonderful, proud, hard-working people in our industry who clean rooms, wash dishes and flip burgers – they are the heart of our business.

Most people in the hospitality business love serving their fellow Americans; they do it with pride. They enjoy making a room spotless, mixing that perfect martini or making that anniversary dinner special.

We have housekeepers who have worked in their jobs for many years. Those dedicated housekeepers realize that they make a difference in a visitor’s hotel experience – their clean rooms make our guests happy.

These are jobs that Americans will do and they do those jobs very well.

Peter Daigle, a resident of Dedham, is chief operating officer of Lafayette Hotels and is past president of the Maine Innkeepers Association.