Thousands of immigrants are about to receive their long-awaited papers to live and work legally in Spain, thanks to a special legalisation process. In Malaga the building industry is the sector that will provide most contracts for them. The hotel and catering trade, despite having a shortfall of at least 6,000 staff, will not be able to take advantage of this special process as the period of time for it falls in low season. For their part farmers fear that if foreigners working for them get legal papers they will move on to work elsewhere.
Ricardo Sánchez Bocanegra, the chairman of the Federation of Costa del Sol Foreign Residents’ Associations (Faecosol), states quite firmly: “This special process for legalising the situation of immigrants is going to be very positive for the economy of the province of Malaga”. He certainly knows what he is talking about as he often acts as an intermediary between immigrants and employers and is aware of thousands of cases of companies that cannot work to maximum capacity because of a shortage of staff. “There are restaurants which only use half their dining-room because they have no staff to open it completely”, he comments. In fact every day he talks to companies that are “extremely interested in engaging immigrants”.
Positive
The impression that businessmen and women in Malaga have of this special legalisation process, which the Government plans for the months of February, March and April 2005, is on the whole positive. “It is a question of making something legal which in everyday life is now quite normal”, insists Bocanegra. But a large number of employers wonder whether the measure will live up to expectations, both for the immigrants themselves and for the companies engaging them.
The problem is that one of the requirements for an immigrant to acquire legal papers is that he or she must have been on the municipal census for at least six months when the new regulations come into force. “There are a lot of immigrants who are not on the municipal census out of fear”, comments José Luis Rodríguez, the lawyer for the immigrants’ association Malaga Acoge. Moreover, if all the immigrants managed to get legal papers it would mean that there would be no labour to keep the underground economy afloat. Faecosol estimates that the problem could affect 40 per cent of the immigrants in Malaga.
But the onus for setting the legalisation process going is on the employers, who must guarantee to give an immigrant a job for six months. Nevertheless, for sectors of the economy where the amount of activity fluctuates according to the time of year, this period of time becomes three months for work on the land and six months within a period of a year for the hotel and catering trade.
For the sectors with the greatest demand for manpower - the hotel and catering trade, the building industry and the land - this legalisation process is a necessary escape valve. “We haven’t got got enough Spanish workers to carry out the medium and lower level tasks in the trade”, sighs Rafael Prados, chairman of the Malaga Catering Businesses, who reckons that in high season at least 6,000 more staff are needed in the province.
The problem is that between February and April, the dates for this special legalisation process, the hotel and catering trade has not yet reached high season, so employers will not be able to give them six-month contracts. The situation will be similar on the land, where the seasons play an essential part in the volume of work because of when harvests fall. “We don’t need more than around 100 or 150 permanent labourers”, says Bárbara Ibáñez of Asaja, the Andalusian Young Farmers’ Association. Jobs such as caretakers of farm buildings, tractor drivers, shepherds, goat herds and stockmen are covered. However, the demand for casual labour shoots up at harvest time when the number of labourers can rise to double or even triple. “We can’t take advantage of harvest time to give immigrants legal jobs because they would be unemployed again in next to no time”, admits Ibáñez. Moreover, on the land, the fear is widespread that foreigners who get papers to work legally will move on to different jobs.
To sum up, there is a great demand for manpower both on the land and in the hotel and catering trade but, because of their varying needs, neither of these areas of the economy will be able to take in all the immigrant labour. So who will? The answer is the industry where the volume of work is not seasonal and does not fall off in summer or winter. The building trade, say all forecasts, will take in the largest number of immigrant workers.
Manpower
“There is great difficulty in obtaining manpower, not only for skilled jobs, but also for totally unskilled ones”, admits Javier González de Lara, the general secretary of the Confederation of Businesses in Malaga. The problem is present 12 months a year, although the vacancies do go up in summer, when the catering trade absorbs more workers. González de Lara is hopeful, however, about the reform in the Aliens’ Law in general. “I expect the paperwork for employing staff will be simplified”, he says.
There is, in fact, a general feeling of optimism about this legalisation process. “From our experience of previous cases firms will end up going ahead and setting the ball rolling for immigrants to get their papers”, says the Malaga Acoge lawyer. Victor Gómez, the secretary for the Building Industry at the Comisiones Obreras trade union, is of the opinion that “the measure will put an end, in part, to the lack of equality among workers, with some labouring under appalling conditions in exchange for breadline wages.”
The building Industry
Requirements: The employer must offer a six-month contract.
Demand: In this sector, not much affected by the seasons, there is great difficulty in finding sufficient labour. Application has been made for a quota of 190 workers and it is in this sector of the economy that most workers are likely to be able to obtain legal papers as there is such a shortfall in the workforce, especially of unskilled labour.
The attitude of the employers: The employers in this field trust that the numbers of workers “with papers” will rise to meet the growing demand.
The land
Requirements: The employer must offer a three-month contract.
Demand: Since work on the land is greatly influenced by the seasons this means that the number applying for legal papers is never over 200. In the main the permanent jobs are for tractor drivers and caretakers of farm buildings.
The attitude of the employers: There are fears that if legal papers are provided for workers during the seasonal peaks of the olive, citrous fruit and tropical fruit harvests, there will be insufficient labour for future harvests. The Andalusian Young Farmers’ Association believes that once immigrants obtain legal papers they will take off for other areas or other jobs.
The hotel and catering trade
Requirements: Under the new regulations, with the seasonal nature of the work, contracts of six months within a 12-month period will be allowed.
Demand: Low season can be covered with the present number of staff but in high season the shortage can reach up to 6,000
The attitude of the employers: The trade sees the new regulations as an escape valve, although there are fears that immigrants will not stay on and finish their training, whereas if they did it would help improve the service. It is feared that they will move onto the building trade.
Domestic service
Requirements: This is the only case in which employees can carry out the legislation process themselves. They must show proof of contracts with a series of employers, adding up to at least 30 hours a week.
Demand: Under the quota around 150 permanent workers will be applied for in 2005, but it is estimated that the underground economy in domestic service is the largest of all.
The attitude: It is thought that legalisation of immigrants’ position through this channel will be flexible, although there are warnings that the potential beneficiaries are not usually on the,municipal census, so they will not be able to take advantage of this system for acquiring papers.
Workers with return tickets
The new regulations still include the system known as “quotas”, now to be called “seasonal permits”. Under this system it is possible to engage workers directly in their home countries to carry out certain tasks in Spain and then return home. Companies are calling for these temporary contracts of employment, especially used where jobs are seasonal, to be made easier. In the field of agriculture, for instance, in the province of Malaga the authorities will be asked for 250 workers for the citrous fruit, olive and tropical fruit harvest in 2005.
Nevertheless, some businesses are not up to engaging somebody from a distance whom they have not met. That is especially true in the hotel and catering trade, where the quota for seasonal permits is usually around 400, despite the fact that the staff shortage is well above that. In the building trade the quota applied for is around 300.
Courtesy of Sur in English
www.surinenglish.com
