Govt asked to clarify its stance on ageism
Campaigners are calling on Government to clarify when it will fulfil its promise to outlaw age discrimination in the workplace.
A member of Age Concern quizzed Cabinet Ministers Bob Richards and Jeanne Atherden on the topic at the charity’s recent annual general meeting but got no answers.
Executive director Claudette Fleming told The Royal Gazette that the two politicians told the audience to direct questions about the proposed amendment to the law to Community Affairs Minister Wayne Scott, who didn’t attend the AGM.
The Minister did not respond to a request for an update from this newspaper by press time last night.
Ms Fleming said age discrimination in the workplace was a crucial issue for Bermuda’s seniors at a time when the cost of living was rising and state pensions were at a standstill.
She said of Mr Richards and Ms Atherden: “Their response to that was ‘that’s not our area’.”
Meanwhile, Charles Jeffers, Age Concern’s chairman of community advocacy, said any legislative advances to change workplace age discrimination stood to benefit Government as well as seniors, since the Island faces a diminished workforce.
Some seniors would want to remain working after mandatory retirement, Mr Jeffers said — while others had bills to cover.
“There are others who might want to stay on, but not necessarily in the position of responsibility that they hold,” Mr Jeffers added. “They could be afforded a part-time or lower level position.”
Reliance on Financial Assistance could be reduced, and a role for seniors in the workplace “could help foster better attitudes among the young”.
Human Rights Commission executive director Lisa Reed told this newspaper: “The HRC is eager to see further amendments of the [Human Rights] Act to expand protection. Questions related to the Government’s plans to change policy or amend legislation should be directed to [the Minister].”
Commission chairman Michael Hanson added: “Our concerns about age discrimination are real. There is a huge amount of age discrimination in Bermuda. More protection needs to be inserted into the Human Rights Act. All we can do as commissioners is to recommend.”
Last month, Mr Hanson said the commission was drafting a list of recommendations to present to Government to bring the Human Rights Act 1981 up to date.
He added yesterday that it would be delivered in the next few weeks. “[Age discrimination] forms part of that. The classic example is the retirement age.”
The lawyer noted that in the UK the retirement age was abolished under the Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 and had “no real impact on business”.
Shadow Seniors Minister Derrick Burgess said changing the Human Rights Act to ban age discrimination should be top of Government’s agenda, adding that though his Progressive Labour Party didn’t make the change while in power for 14 years, he argued vociferously for it.
“We shouldn’t have no type of discrimination in this country, particularly age discrimination,” he said. “When those figures were put in place regarding [mandatory] retirement [at 65] it was way back in the fifties, when life expectancy was round about 63.
“Now life expectancy in Bermuda is much older. Sixty five today is very young. We are sending home a lot of knowledge. These are some of our best employees. We should never be discriminating against our people based on age.”
Mr Scott told Age Concern’s AGM in June last year that Government was looking at prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of age in the workplace but no timeline was in place.
He said Government was dedicated to ending all forms of age discrimination but more work had to be done to prevent unintended consequences.
“It’s something that’s actively on the agenda,” he said. “I cannot give a time frame but that’s something that my department is actively looking at now.”
As reported by this newspaper yesterday, Mr Richards told the Age Concern AGM on September 10 that state pensions would not be increased in the near future because “money does not grow on trees” and the contributory pension pot is massively underfunded.
The minutes of the meeting record an audience member as stating: “More emphasis should be put on age discrimination. Being dismissed at 65 and being replaced with foreign help, when still able to work efficiently at 65, this needs attention.”
Ms Atherden replied: “This does not come under my Ministry. However, I note that you have been in dialogue last year with my colleague, Minister Wayne Scott, and believe you should follow the issue up with him.”
Opposition MP Derrick Burgess last night accused Government of “arrogance and anti-Bermudian attitudes” after seniors were told they wouldn’t get an increase in their state pension.
The Shadow Seniors Ministers said the One Bermuda Alliance pushed for a pension increase when in Opposition yet Finance Minister Bob Richards was now telling the Island’s elderly population that “money doesn’t grow on trees”.
Mr Burgess claimed that since coming to power the ruling party had lowered the quality of life for Bermudians aged 65 and above by raising their taxes and licensing fees, refusing to outlaw age discrimination and allowing “their friends in the insurance industry to raise the cost of health insurance”.
He said: “Based on their record of broken promises and deception, no Bermudian, least of all our seniors, should be surprised at the heartless action taken against Bermudians who built this country and sacrificed so much for the life we all enjoy today.
“The OBA says ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ when it comes to seniors, scholarships for young Bermudians, financial assistance for the unemployed and salaries for government workers.
“Yet somehow money does grow on trees for tax concessions for business[es] that have failed to translate into jobs for Bermudians; providing the Bermuda Tourism Authority with over $20 million in taxpayer money while covering up how it is being spent, where it is being spent and on who it is being spent; [and] paying out over $200,000 on moving the BTA out of government offices, refurbishments and furniture, while also creating an unknown cost to taxpayers in the form of monthly rent to the BTA’s landlord.”
He added: “The arrogance and anti-Bermudian attitudes that have become the hallmark of the OBA’s time in office is disappointing but not surprising. OBA actions and policies directed against Bermudians speak for themselves.”
An OBA spokesman responded today: “The PLP are the architects of deprivations and shortages felt by thousands of Bermudians today. The $110 million-plus the Government must spend this year on debt interest payments — money that cannot go to increase senior pensions — is the consequence of the fiscal and economic mismanagement of the PLP years.
“The OBA Government is working to fix the situation but let there be no mistake about exactly who are the authors of our economic misfortunes. PLP mismanagement of the economy and government finances has imposed an era of austerity on Bermudians that will take years to correct.
“Everything they say in [yesterday’s] statement indicates they have learned nothing from their experience. They would only deepen the hole they dug for Bermuda — playing for political gain instead of national salvation.
“The PLP like to describe OBA policies as anti-Bermudian, which is rich since the legacy of their years in government is thousands of Bermudians without work, with reduced wages and less hope than they once had.
“The OBA understands the hardships and we are pulling every available lever to improve the economy so that people can get the jobs, opportunities and support they need. It’s taking time but that simply speaks to the serious situation passed on by the previous government.”
