Dionne Rose, Staff ReporterJAMAICAN FARM workers who were recruited for the United States (US) Overseas Employment Programme are to benefit from a social fund being put in place by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Barrington Bailey, senior director of Manpower Services told The Gleaner that the fund was put in place after a regional meeting with United States employers in Montego Bay recently.
ONLY EMERGENCY CASES
He said that farm workers would only be able to access the fund in emergency cases and that the maximum to be accessed from the fund would be $50,000.
The fund he said will be made available to workers through the ministry's liaison service officers in the United States. Additionally, the ministry will be recruiting 1,000 workers for the Canadian Farm Work Programme from March 7 to 15.
The recruitment drive, he said, will be mainly for the Leamington area of Canada, where a new office was opened earlier this month.
In this recruitment drive, he said, workers who are computer literate will have an advantage as there is currently a demand for their skills.
