What we value is intricately linked to our morality and our ethics, whether personal or corporate. Sustainability is essentially a statement of morality, embeddlng as it does the notion of inter- and intra-generational equity, This includes, among other things, social justice, The values underlying tourism development are dominated by the corporate expedient of profit and by the State concern for wealth generation, irrespective of the impacts on workers

Chok, S.

Macbeth, J.

English

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BEST EN Think Tank IX The Importance of Values in Sustainable Tourism   Labour Justice and Sustainable Tourism: The Centrality of Equity as a Sustainability Principle Stephanie Chok* & Jim Macbeth°  * Murdoch University, Australia, stephchok@gmail.com  °  Murdoch University, Australia, J.Macbeth@murdoch.edu.au  Abstract What  we  value  is  intricately  linked  to  our  morality  and  our  ethics,  whether  personal  or corporate.  Sustainability is essentially a statement of morality, embedding as it does the notion  of  inter-  and  intra-generational  equity.    This  includes,  among  other  things,  social justice.    The  values  underlying  tourism  development  are  dominated  by  the  corporate expedient  of  profit  and  by  the  State  concern  for  wealth  generation,  irrespective  of  the impacts on workers. This paper examines current trends in tourism employment from a social justice perspective. It seeks to clarify the links between social justice and sustainable development and argues that de-politicized approaches to tourism development have severe implications for already marginalized  groups  and  the  ability  to  meet  key  sustainability  challenges.  This  paper  is specifically focused on a particular social justice concern, labour rights, and will explore this issue through a case study, namely, the situation for low-wage guest workers in Singapore’s tourism industry.  The  ‘tourism industry’ continually promotes  itself  as the  world’s largest employer  and its ability to generate large numbers of jobs makes it a popular economic development strategy, in  poor  and  wealthy  nations  alike.  This  numbers-driven  approach,  however,  generally ignores the qualitative aspects of tourism employment, particularly for its low-wage workers. There are, in fact, indications that many tourism and tourism-related industries resemble service sector sweatshops characterized by low pay and poor working conditions. Tourism employment, particularly in the hospitality industry, tends to be highly stratified and reliant on a large base of low-paid workers who are often disproportionately made up of vulnerable groups,  such  as  migrant  and  women  workers,  who  often  lack  bargaining  power.  Global trends toward the casualization and subcontracting of work compounds the precariousness of  the  employment  situation  for  workers  who  do  not  enjoy  a  strong  history  of  collective bargaining vis-à-vis other industries.  BEST EN Think Tank IX The Importance of Values in Sustainable Tourism   The  exploitation  of  low-wage  labour  in  the  tourism  industry,  relative  to  widespread  tacit acknowledgement  of  its  existence,  remains  under-studied  and  under-discussed.  This  is especially curious and somewhat disturbing, considering the huge surge of global interest in sustainable tourism (ST) and related, though equally contested concepts such as ‘ethical tourism’,  and  ‘responsible  tourism’.  While  enthusiastically  embracing  concepts  such  as sustainable development (SD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR), as well as ‘causes’, such as poverty alleviation and human rights, the tourism industry, by and large, has done little to address equity issues with regards to tourism development. Equity is understood as fairness  –  rather  than  ‘sameness’,  which  it  is  often  misunderstood  to  represent  –  and includes a strong commitment to both social and eco-justice.  Currently, sustainable tourism debates tend to focus on environmental issues, particularly in the area of ST indicators, thus missing other vital aspects of tourism’s place in the global political economy. Socio-cultural issues, in general, emphasize minimizing negative impacts on  local  communities  and,  increasingly,  on  poverty  alleviation  strategies  in  developing countries, where tourism growth is high. Within this discourse, the tourism industry’s ‘job creation’  rate  is  often  cited  as  a  primary  reason  to  adopt  it  as  a  pro-poor  strategy. Redistributive  justice  as  an  explicit  goal  and  considerations  of  structural  injustice  as contributing to and/or exacerbating poverty are rare, particularly within policy circles.  The  problem,  therefore,  is  identified  as  one  of  emphasis  as  well  as  perspective.  While environmental sustainability is a critical issue, particularly for a resource-intensive industry like tourism, ignoring or downplaying social justice issues will have grave consequences for what is also a labour-intensive industry. More crucially, it is the de-politicization of a value-laden discourse that is problematic – this is true whether the issue involves environmental or social  concerns.  Adopting  a  justice  perspective  means  being  cognizant  of  power asymmetries and acknowledging structural inequities – this has significant implications for the debate with regards to issues such as rights and responsibilities.  By  focusing  on  the  issue  of  low-wage  guest  workers  along  tourism’s  supply  chain  in Singapore, this paper raises key questions about the costs of ignoring the equity principle in tourism development. Determined to expand the tourism industry, the Singapore government issued two licences to build large casinos on the island and is keen to host mega events such as the F1 Grand Prix and be an international business conference destination. Some key  challenges  facing  the  small  island  state  are  shortages  of  land,  appropriate accommodation and labour.  The low-wage tourism labour market in Singapore is made up of a diverse group of workers, including both local and non-resident workers, with the latter most commonly referred to as BEST EN Think Tank IX The Importance of Values in Sustainable Tourism   foreign workers. Labour migration policies shifted recently to reflect the growing demand for unskilled or low-skilled labour in the service sector, with growing numbers of workers from China and the Philippines being recruited to work in the hospitality sector (including food and beverage as well as retail outlets). Some common problems from a labour rights perspective with  regards  to  such  low-wage  guest  workers  –including  overseas  trainees  –  include exorbitant labour recruitment fees, long working hours, lack of rest days, low pay and poor living conditions. It has also become apparent that significant numbers of guest workers building high-profile tourism projects have been embroiled in workplace disputes over withheld wages, unlawful deductions  and  lack  of  overtime  pay.  Despite  some  media  attention,  this  has  not  been adequately addressed by industry, with fingers pointing to subcontractors as well as sending country recruitment agents.   There  are  convergences  as  well  as  key  differences  with  regards  to  the  situation  in Singapore. It is a highly regulated state with a tripartite labour relations system that is mostly pro-business, emphasizing industrial harmony over workers autonomy. It also does not have a minimum wage, for both local as well as guest workers. The social and political context within which tourism development takes place, therefore, is crucial. At the same time, in light of ‘labour shortages’ being a common refrain in a growing number of industrialized countries, including Australia, it is important to consider what the Singapore case means for countries keen to implement guest worker programs.  As tourism development continues to expand, it cannot afford to ignore growing concerns about  labour  exploitation  and  other  forms  of  human  rights  abuses.  Sustainable  tourism discourse  needs  to  integrate  social  justice  perspectives  which  are  cognizant  of fundamentally unjust relations. Non-confrontational language and consensual approaches towards a highly political process – which tourism development undoubtedly is – only serves to sustain patterns of inequality and hinders progress towards a sustainable future. 

Labour justice and sustainable tourism: the centrality of equity as a sustainability principle

http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/9983/

Labour justice and sustainable tourism: the centrality of equity as a sustainability principle

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