Mason glad he sparked debate

The master mason whose plight sparked an Immigration clampdown has told how it took 17 applications for him to land a job.

Leofran Tucker told the Bermuda Sun he was glad his case had brought the issue of discrimination against Bermudians to light.

The 58-year-old has been working as a mason for more than 30 years and teaches the trade part-time at Bermuda College.

Applications ignored

But a series of applications for advertised vacancies were largely ignored.

Mr. Tucker, who also has qualifications in construction management, sent his application letter along with his resume and references from three previous employers to 17 different companies between June 12 and July 31.

Only three called him for interviews.

One firm phoned to say he was “over qualified” for the job and they had hired someone else.

The other 14 apparently ignored his application.

Mr. Tucker’s cause was taken up by Immigration Minister Col. David Burch who announced last week that he had ‘red carded’ the offending companies — freezing their work permit applications and ordering an investigation into their hiring practices.

Since Minister Burch announced the self-described ‘draconian steps’ in a press conference last week, Mr. Tucker says several of the firms have contacted him.

“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” he said.

Coinicidence? Mr Tucker, who ultimately landed a job with Burt Construction, does not think so.

He went through the same process a year ago.

“Last time I sent out eight applications and only one got back to me  — by e-mail. They offered me $22-an-hour. I had to tell them I can’t afford to work for that. I ended up working for myself for a while.”

The Bermuda Industrial Union guideline for a top grade mason is $33.43-an-hour. Even a junior mason should be paid $28.90 an hour, according to the union.

Along with his applications Mr. Tucker submitted two references from previous employers.

One praised his ‘good attitude and work ethic’, another praised his punctuality, describing him as ‘industrious and a ‘very capable’ mason.

A third reference from a client he had worked for as a private contractor praised his integrity and concluded: “If there is a job to be done, he is the one to do it.”

Mr. Tucker is glad the Immigration Ministry was now looking into the issue; cheap foreign labour, he said, was keeping qualified Bermudians out of work: “It comes down to money. They can make any number of excuses but it is really about money. They want to keep the pay rates down and make bigger profits.”

The BIU is currently investigating claims that some firms are bidding for contracts on the basis of a specified wage level, but then paying workers less.

Mr. Tucker’s last job was with Troy Burrows Construction on a project on Elliott Street. But his contract came to an end in May when the masonry part of that job was completed.

He began applying for construction supervisor and masonry positions in June.

Mr. Tucker, who has a daughter starting college in September and a son in middle school, said he needed work and was disappointed to be told by one firm that he was overqualified.

“I was peeved about that. When you are out of work there is no such thing as overqualified.”

He first taught masonry in Bermuda in 1983. Now he says he sees many of his students working as labourers or looking for hustles because they can’t get work.

“There are a lot of people like me that want to work. I know a lot of guys who have been through the same thing a few times. It’s time something was done.”

He believes young people are also being held back in the trades by a lack of apprenticeships and on-the-job training.

He said many of the students on his masonry courses were not given the opportunity to practice their skills on site.

“I heard the Construction Association complaining that the Bermudians coming through weren’t good enough. But there is only so much you can learn in a classroom, they need to be working on their tools.”