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WORKERSWORKERSTHE

Volume 45. No.94 Wednesday, January 6, 2016 Price 50 cents

V ICE

e Bermuda Industrial Union is onrecord in 2012 just before the GeneralElection in December of 2012 sayingthat the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA)is going to be supporting business at the

expense of everyday Bermudians. eOBAhadsaidatthattimetheBIUwaswrong.

However you can be the judge as towhat has happen since once the OBAwas elected in 2012.

Term limits - were eliminatedin the firstsix months of the OBA Government

Gaming e OBA promised a

referendum on gaming however oncethey became the Government theychanged their mind

Work Permit Policy e OBAwanted to create a work permit policythat would allow persons on a workpermit who have children, to allowthem to apply for Summer Student jobsover Bermudian Children. is policy

was later withdrawn after the Minister

of Home Affairs received push backfrom the people.

Americas Cup e OBA Govern-ment used $77 million of the tax payersmoney to finance the Americas Cup,

while seniors benefits have been cut,educationbenefitshavebeen cut, etc; etc.

PRC e OBA Government has ex-ploited the sleeping provision, in theimmigration policy that provides a pathto allow about 1400 PRCs to apply forBermuda status.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform e OBA Government had made acommitment to comprehensiveimmigration reform but have nothonored this commitment. e OBAGovernment instead appears to haveadopted a process of piecemealingchanges to immigration reform.

Hiring Freeze e Government has

implemented a hiring freeze in order toreduce the cost of running the Govern-ment. is is causing a problem inproviding quality services in certain areasfoe example, Parks, the Postal service,Sanitation services and PublicTransportation, all of which are understaffedandtherefore cannot providethequality services that are required.

e 2015 Labour Force Survey

Executive Report that was released inJanuary 2016 has highlighted some veryconcerning information.

e One Bermuda Alliance Govern-ment has been saying that they areputting Bermudians back to work yoube the judge as to who they are creating

jobs for, based upon the report icertainly does not appear to be Bermu-dians based on the facts contained in theinformationthat is beingreleased by theBermuda Department of Statistics.

On January 21st 2016 the Minister ofHome Affairs in a written presstatement says the following;As you will recall, the Bermuda JobBoard, which launched in Novembe

2013, is an online, user-friendly platformavailable to Bermudians seeking employ-ment. e induction of the Bermuda JobBoard has significantly enhanced the jobsearch process for Department ofWorkforce

Development clients and the entire com-munity. Likewise, it has assisted employerin indentifying qualified local resources.On page 2 of the press release the Minister

goes onto say that there will now be amandatory field on the job board requiringemployers to report on recruitment throughthe Job Board by responding to the questionHave you hired a candidate for thispositionthat applied via the Job Board? is wilenhance reporting on recruitment activity.

If what the Ministers is saying is true,thenwhy isitwedonot see moreBermu-dians being hired? We are seeing thecomplete opposite because theemploymentnumbers forBermudians in2013 were 26,316 and now in 2015 it i25,813 this represents a decline of 503

e State of Employment for Bermudiansunder the OBA Governmentby Chris Furbert, BIU President

SPECIAL EDITION

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4 THE WORKERS VOICEJANUARY 6, 2016

CHART 4

In December 2015 the Minister ofFinance proposed an increase in landTax that went into effect on January1st 2016 below are some examples as

to how this new increase will impactyour Land Tax Cost. You will noticethat some of these examples that rateincreases range from 32% to 103%

which directly impacts the workingclass peoples bottom line once again,

while the people who can afford toPAY get a break. (Please see chart 4)

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LEST WE FORGET - BELCO 1965

5JANUARY 6, 2016THE WORKERS VOICE

Bro. Viv MingBro.Bro.Bro.

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6 THE WORKERS VOICEJANUARY 6, 2016

Lest We Forget February 2, 1965February2,1965, isa red-letter day in theannals of the BIU. It marked the climaxof one of the Unions most celebrateddis-putes, when the police, and hundreds of

workers clashed in what is known as theBELCO Riot. Basically, it was a recog-nition dispute between the BIU and theBermuda Electric Light Company(BELCO).

e company then and now, ownedand operated the one and only powerplant providing electricity to the wholeIsland. Among its directors and share-holdersweresome of theBermudas most

powerful and influential white men, in-cluding Sir Harry Butterfield, Sir JohnCox, Sir Henry (Jack)Tucker, andSir Ba-yard Dill. ey along with BELCOsgeneral manager, Llewellyn Vorley, werethe companys representatives in negotia-tions. e BIU was represented by Dr.Barbara Ball, General Secretary, EugeneBlakeney, Assistant General Secretary,

Robert Johnston, President; Ottie Sim-mons, Union Organizer,; and a delega-tion made up of electrical workers.

According to Ira Philip, authorof e History of the Bermuda Indus-trial Union, the principle issue in 1965

was union recognition for 87 outsideplant employees who had recently or-ganized intotheUnion. ey comprisedlinemen, garage mechanics, drivers,labourers, maintenance personnel andothers. At that time, BELCOs total staffcontingency was 231 which includedclerical and administrative staff.

An application for union recog-nition was made in writing, wroteBrother Philip. BELCOreturneda neg-ative response. Intervention by Govern-ments Labour Relations Officer (LRO)Harold Chudleigh failed to alter thecompanys negative stance.

Brother Philip further explained.

Following an intensive public relationscampaign in the media initiated by theUnion, the company offered to hold aballot provided that all of its 231 em-

ployees, including supervisors, partici-pated, with the stipulation that theUnion had to get sixty percent yes votesin its favour before the company wouldgrant recognition.

is proposal drew a resoundingNO from the Union, for three mainreasons: First, it flew in the face of thedemocratic process, in that recognitionvotes were ordinarily determined by a

simple majority. Second, the companypracticedunacceptableracial policies. Forinstate,itslocker rooms,toilets and wash-uprooms wereassignedonraceand signs

were posted to ensure that no one madeany mistakes.

At the end of the thirty-four daysthe BELCO strike culminated in a

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7JANUARY 6, 2016THE WORKERS VOICE

bloody riot described by Brother Philipas follows e police were attackingthe west-gate picket line. Some of thepickets were defendingthemselves againstan extremely aggressive police force.

Johnston (Robert) was being arrested; hepassively cooperated, in accordance with

previousunion instructions. Some pick-eters were bloody and looked confused,as they wandered about the road tryingto find their bearings. At the same timea police van was being overturned andsomeone appeared to be trying to set fireto the leaking fuel.

Brother Ottiwell Simmons hasalsowritten on the BELCO strike, and in hisbookOurLady of Labour Dr. Barbara

B. Ball. Brother Ottie summed up theBELCO strike as follows:

Following the February 2 distur-bance,muchtimewas taken upwithme-diation and reconciliation. esediscussions were headedbytheGovernor.

Also, the Company (BELCO) was busyforming its own in-house union, this

time with thecompletecooperationof itsinside-plant employees. e new union

was named the Electrical Supply andTrade Union (ESTU).

Brother Ottie explained that throughmediation, a settlement was reached

within three days in an attempt to returnthe Island to normalcy. ere were twoprincipal points by the parties:

1 ere would be a secret ballot of all130 Company employees, and if theresults indicated a 51% majority foreither union (BIU or ESTU), it

would determine recognition andsole bargaining rights to the success-ful union.

2 Seven of the former Company em-ployees, namely Raymond JackieDurham, Clarence Sparrow Trott,Ronald EightBallsTrott, LlewellynBird Bean, Bridge Webb, HubertHubie Spence, and John Mello

would be made redundant andwould receive a substantial severance

pay based on length of service.

It must be noted that the only satisfac-tion that the BIU achieved out of thisagreement was the fact that for the firsttime the Bermuda Electric Light Com-pany would be unionized, although nei-

therthe Unionofficials,nor the memberswere in any way pleased, wrote BrotherOttie.

On May 14, 1965, a supervised secretballot took place at the Companys prem-ises. e final result was that the ESTUreceived137yes votes,theBIUreceived94 yes votes. is result reflected thecomposition of the strikers and the nonstrikers. Since that day, the BIU, in spite

of several efforts, has never had any suc-cess in organizing the BELCO workersexcept the St. Georges branch whichcontinued membership with the BIUe ESTU is still in existence today andhas sole bargaining rights, even for theeighty-sevenemployees whosacrificed somuch as members of the BIU.

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BACK TO THE PLANTATION??Is this a hint OR is this the best plan the OBA can come up with for our people?

THE OBA TRACK RECORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.IT IS NOT YOUR INTEREST THEY

ARE LOOKING OUT FOR! THEIR TIME IS UP!!

TUESDAY, JANUARY

19th 2016 - Headline: -DUNKLEY: LOOK TO

FARMING FOR WORK.

is article should be an insult to

every Bermudian that is awake!

e Premier of Bermuda is suggesting

that Bermudians struggling to findwork should look to traditional

industries that have serviced the

Island for decades for employment,

insisting that farming and hospitality

sectors could provide opportunities

for those willing to diversify.

SO to all our QUALIFIED Bermu-

dians, young and not so young, withall your schooling and degrees, you

should know that the OBA Govern-

ment is in many ways telling you, you

will never be good enough to work in

CORPORATE BERMUDA.

Since when has FARMING been

close to the TOP of one of the major

16 Industries that employ Bermudi-

ans? If anything, it falls in the bottomfour showing figures in 2013, that

only 274 were employed in the

Industry of Ag/Fish, Forestry/Fishing

and Quarrying.

MAYBEoptions of Traditional

Business in Hotels, Restaurants.but

FARMING!!

IS THIS THE BEST THE

PREMIER CAN COME

UP WITH?

I would like to see families and

communities get more involved infarming. ere is land available and

there are community gardens.

Is this a suggestion that government

will be giving or loaning out land? For

persons to turnover profits and be-

come self sufficient? Would think

NOT!